


Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken

by logans_girl2001



Series: Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Canonical Rape/Non-con, Consensual Underage Sex, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent, Multi, canonical inappropriate sexual conduct of an adult with a teenager
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:09:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 51,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25070668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/logans_girl2001/pseuds/logans_girl2001
Summary: Derek Hale is only one of two male children born into his family that have lived more than a few days for five hundred years. His uncle Peter is pure evil, just like the ancestor whose Mate begged the Pack Witch to cast the spell that prevented any males to be born. When Derek is born, a large portion of the Pack are afraid he'll turn out to be just as evil. When his life ends up being full of one tragedy after another, he worries that they were right and he deserves every heartbreak he experiences. Until he meets a Human who has his wolf sitting up and whispering one simple word: ours.
Relationships: Cora Hale & Derek Hale, Cora Hale & Derek Hale & Laura Hale, Cora Hale & Laura Hale, Derek Hale & Laura Hale, Derek Hale & Talia Hale, Derek Hale's Father/Talia Hale, Derek Hale/Original Female Character(s), Derek Hale/Original Male Character(s), Kate Argent/Derek Hale, Peter Hale & Talia Hale
Series: Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805245
Comments: 3
Kudos: 59





	1. Anders

**Beacon Hills, California  
1988**

It's been three hours since Talia woke me to say that her water had broken. Three hours of me hiding in the corner watching as she paces the birthing room, her claws and fangs extended as she fights the urge to shift with each contraction.

Each time she paces close to me, I reach out, hoping she'll take my hand and let me take some of her pain. But she's the Alpha of the all powerful Hale Pack. She'll accept my help once it's time to deliver, but for now she'll only accept help from her sisters.

As her labor progresses, the feeling that there's something wrong with this pregnancy returns. We have a three year old daughter and this pregnancy smells different. When I said something to her about it, she told me that every pregnancy is different; even for the same woman. But I know that's not always true because the two pregnancies my mother had after me smelled exactly the same.

And yet I still worry about the pup; worry that the different scent means that there is something wrong. But Deaton and the midwife have both assured me that the pup is fine. Even Talia has said that she doesn't feel that anything is wrong with the pup. She feels like she would know since she's carrying her.

Despite it being tradition to not find out the gender before delivery, I'm fairly certain the pup growing in Talia's belly is another girl. For as long as anyone can remember, there have only been girls born in the Hale family. Except for Peter, any boy has either been stillborn or not lived more than a few days.

When I heard about how the boys struggled to live, it almost made me want to bring back the barbaric tradition of the Alpha accepting or rejecting all pups born. But then I remembered that we're supposedly civilized now and killing a newborn because it is premature or has some condition or disease that'll keep it from living, is too animalistic, even for a Pack of Werewolves.

Even though I'm positive I'm destined to only have daughters, I would truly love to have a son. It can get lonely being the only male in a family of females. I know that I technically have Peter, but he just turned eight a few months ago. And there's something off about him that has my inner wolf whining in confusion as if unsure if it should be afraid of him or not.

A pained grunt from Talia brings me out of my musings.

The midwife is kneeling in front of where Talia is standing, reaching her hand up between Talia's legs. "Do you feel the urge to bear down, Alpha?"

"I do." Every muscle in Talia's body bulges with the strain of not doing just that.

"Then it is time, Alpha."

Talia turns to face me, a soft smile on her face for the first time since her labor began. "Come, my love." She holds one hand out to me.

I remember when she went into labor with Laura. I was surprised when she insisted I be in the birthing room. In the Pack I came from, only women attended the births since the birthing of pups is women's business. Not so in Hale Pack. The Hales have a tradition where the father is present for the entire labor and then allows his Mate to use him as a birthing stool.

When it came time for that with Laura, I was terrified that I would do something to harm Talia or Laura. Especially since part of what is required is helping to push the pup out.

But now that I know what is expected, I step to the middle of the room and kneel down. Talia steps in front of me and I assist her in lowering onto my lap. Once she's settled, I spread my knees to open her legs enough for the midwife to do her job. 

I love this part because I can take some of her pain as well as rub her swollen belly, something I haven't been able to do for days now.

"Let me take your pain, my Alpha." I nuzzle her temple.

"Need...the...pain." She rests her head back on my shoulder and pants through another contraction.

I kiss her cheek and rub my hands lovingly over where our pup is preparing to enter the world.

"C'mon, little one. Everyone is eager to meet you," I croon at Talia's belly.

When I feel the ripple of a contraction, I stack my hands on the upper swell of her belly and apply a slight pressure. Talia holds her breath and presses with me.

"Breathe, Alpha," the midwife scolds. "This is for your Mate to do."

"Can't...help...it." Talia relaxes in the few seconds between contractions. "Instinct."

"Well, our daughter is going to need you to be rested. So relax and let me do this for you, my Alpha."

"Son." Talia sounds so convinced that the pup inside her is a boy.

"Hales do not have healthy boys." Her sister, Adena, all but snarls.

A tiny whimper comes from her when Talia squeezes her hand with her claws. "This one will be."

"Do you know something I don't, Alpha?" The midwife asks, keeping her eyes on where my pup will soon be exiting my Mate's body.

Talia turns her head and scents my neck. "Just a feeling."

"But there have been no healthy boys born in generations," Talia's other sister, Darya, says from her other side.

"You're forgetting Peter." Talia leans forward enough to see her sister.

I can see her eyes flash in warning. 

Eight years ago, Peter killed their mother during his birth. Only two things kept him from becoming Alpha: the fact that he wasn't actually born yet when she died and that he was too young to accept the Spark. Talia was the only one in the Pack that wanted to keep Peter and raise him. And as Alpha, her word is law.

Darya and Adena have spent the last eight years pretending like Peter doesn't exist. They claim that he is pure evil and there is something odd about his smell. It's almost, but not quite, the sour scent of an Omega. And only the fact that he's the Alpha's brother has kept the others from running him off. As it is, their father left when Talia put her foot down over leaving him to die in the woods.

"Press harder, Beta Hale!" The midwife's harsh tone has me snapping back to the present.

With the next contraction, I press harder on Talia's belly and am rewarded by a harshly exhaled breath from Talia that signals the head is out. I look into the mirror that has been placed at just the right angle for me to watch my pup enter the world and see a shock of black hair.

"Oh, Talia! Another one with a head full of black hair!"

Talia laughs and lifts her head to look for herself. "What did you expect, my love? We have the same coloring."

"Except for our eyes."

She leans her head back and breaths in and out deeply. "Mm. You have the most beautiful green eyes."

The midwife makes a frustrated noise. "There is a problem, Alpha."

"What kind of problem?" I can feel Talia's entire body tense up.

"The shoulder is caught on your pubic bone. It happens sometimes, Alpha."

Talia releases a relieved sigh. "What do you do for that?"

"I can try to push the lower shoulder in further but that doesn't always work."

"Your Alpha asked what you can do to deliver this pup," Adena snaps. 

Adena really should be Talia's Second but tradition has always had the Alpha's spouse hold that position. But even still, there are certain duties that I allow her to do. And scolding the midwife for not telling all the solutions is one of them.

"Well, um, the oth-other one is...is to break the...the collarbone." The midwife swallows loudly.

I feel Talia's strength waning, but she still manages a commanding tone when she says, "Then do that. He'll heal quickly since he's a Werewolf and, besides, at this age, pups are mostly cartilage, anyway."

"The pup won't heal that quickly if it is fully Human, my Alpha." I rub my nose against the side of her face.

Talia laughs. "There has never been a full Human pup born of Hale blood. And this pup is not about to be the first."

"I love how you think you have a say in that, my Alpha," I say softly against her neck.

A loud popping sound, followed by a soft mewling, interrupts our conversation. I look over Talia's shoulder to see my daughter and start to laugh just as the bloody body held by the midwife begins to scream in earnest.

"Well, now I know why this pregnancy smelled different!" Talia bumps her head against my chin when I don't continue. "It's a boy!"

Talia joins me in my laughter. "I told you!" She reaches up and turns my head enough to press her lips to mine. "Never doubt me again, love of mine."

"Never, my Alpha."

Two days later, I'm rocking Derek and humming softly to him, just marveling that I had a hand in creating this perfect little person, when I hear what has become a common argument between Talia and her sisters.

 _"He cannot be allowed to continue!"_ Adena is always the most vocal about us not keeping our son. As if the Alpha would ever give up her pup.

_"There is nothing wrong with my son! I am your Alpha and I have told you that he is perfect. If you cannot abide to watch him grow within this Pack, then I suggest you take your Mate and daughters and return to his Pack."_

That statement is new. I glance up at the partially open door expecting Talia to come stalking into our room any second. More and more she has been taking solace in Derek's warm little body; holding him close and scenting him, even when feeding him.

And just as expected, she comes bustling in, just about vibrating in anger.

"Did you hear? Can you believe it?"

"No, my Alpha."

Derek is such a good baby. He only cries when something is wrong. But over the past couple of days, he has become accustomed to his mother's agitated tone and doesn't even startle at it anymore. He does, however, open his bright blue eyes at the sound of her voice. 

While I know his eyes will most likely change to brown over the next few weeks, I can't help but wish that they stay blue. The color, combined with his midnight black hair, is unique enough that the females of the Pack that can tell he's nothing like Peter, swoon every time they see him.

Giving a full body shake much like she does when fully shifted, Talia gets rid of as much of her anger as she can before approaching me with her hands outstretched. "How can anyone look at this perfect little face and think for even a second that he's anything other than good?"

She lifts him to her shoulder, her face buried in his tiny neck. "His smell is not even close to Peter's. There is only good in our son, Anders."

"I know, Talia." I stand up so she can sit.

Once settled, she begins undoing her blouse. "Are you hungry, my beautiful boy?"

Whether he is or not, he eagerly latches on to her nipple when she presents it.

"This is my favorite part of being a mother." She looks up at me and we share a small smile.

"I love watching you feed our pups from your body, my Alpha." I grab the stool and sit at her side where I can watch and we can talk quietly. "I heard what you said to Adena. Was that wise?"

Talia doesn't take her eyes off Derek's face. "Wise or not, the words have been spoken." She takes an unsteady breath. "I need to call a meeting. There are too many who are wary of Derek's presence within the Pack. I need to put a stop to any unrest that might be brewing." She looks up at me and I can see tears gathering in her eyes. "I have to do the one thing no Hale Alpha has ever done." She swallows thickly. "I must give them a choice: leave or accept my son."

I lean forward and press a kiss to her shoulder. "If you feel that is what you must do, I will stand with you, my beautiful Alpha."

Nearly a week later, the entire Pack is gathered in the cleared area behind the house. Talia stands on the back porch with Derek strapped to her chest and I stand to her right and slightly behind her. The unease that is rippling through the crowd at the evidence that Talia and I intend to keep our son, has the potential to turn nasty.

Talia raises one hand and the crowd falls silent. "Pack, I stand before you as your Alpha. As you know I gave birth to only the second boy to survive more than a few days after being born in living memory. I am here to tell you that my son is healthy and thriving. I will not allow anyone to speak ill of him or to wish him harm. If you cannot accept him as your Alpha's son, you may take your Mate and pups and leave with my blessing. I promise you there will be no hard feelings and I will continue to consider you Pack." She pauses to swallow back tears. "You have until the next full moon to make your decision." Then with a nod, she turns on her heel and walks back inside with her head held high.

We lose five families that month. And ten more over the next six years. I do my best to shield Derek from it; it's not his fault, even if some members are blaming him, and I refuse to let him think he's anything like his uncle.


	2. Ages 6-10 years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last complete chapter. Chapter three is mostly finished. I'm hoping to complete it this week.

Several months before Derek turns six, his mama's belly starts to get big. When he asks about it she tells him she is going to have a pup and asks if he would like to be a big brother. He just shrugs, slips from her lap and goes off to play with his cars.

Talia just smiles fondly at him, knowing that he probably doesn't understand what it means, yet. It's not like he doesn't know about pups; as much as a five year-old can, that is. With a Pack as large as theirs, it would be nearly impossible for him to not be vaguely aware of where pups come from.

As Talia's belly grows, Derek finds he can no longer sit in her lap, not that he wants to much anymore. Her scent has changed and it makes his nose itch, now, so he stays as far from her as he can without actively avoiding her because he is currently in a Mama's Boy phase. And Talia loves it. She'll never admit it out loud, but Derek is her favorite. And yes, it is all because he's her only son. Of course that could change when she gives birth in a few weeks. But for now, he holds a very special place in her heart.

Then two months before Derek's birthday, his life changes.

The day starts out normal but as it progresses, Talia becomes more easily agitated. Normally, Derek can do no wrong in his mama's eyes. But today it seems like all he can do is annoy her. He has been on the verge of tears for most of the day. They finally spilled over a couple of hours ago when she snapped at him when he ran up to where she was sitting on the couch to hug her and tell her he loves her.

Even though she apologized, blaming the pup for making her so short tempered, he has put a wall up. While he is still playing with his cars on the rug in front of the fireplace, he's refusing to look at her or even acknowledge her presence in any way. But that doesn't mean he's not hyper aware of her, because he is. His tiny hands still in the middle of creating a car crash when he hears the soft pained gasp she gives before she calls for his papa.

Anders comes rushing from the kitchen where he's been helping Laura with the last of her homework when Talia calls his name.

"What is it, my Alpha?"

Derek's brows lower in annoyance at hearing his papa use the term. As far as he can recall, he has only ever heard his papa use his mama's name a handful of times. That's not to say that his use of 'my Alpha' is wrong, Talia _is_ Anders' Alpha, it's just that Derek doesn't know why he does it. Talia will use Anders' name more than he uses hers, but she does also call him 'my love' a lot. Derek wonders why that doesn't bother him. Maybe because what Talia calls Anders isn't a constant reminder of Anders' place within the Pack? He hopes that one day he'll understand but for now, it doesn't change anything in his ever expanding world.

"Get him." Derek looks over his shoulder to where his mama is sitting on the couch with her feet propped up on the coffee table, pointing a finger right at him.

He raises panicked eyes to his papa. "What did I do wrong, Mama?" His lower lip quivers at the thought that he made her angry again.

Anders glances at the antique mantel clock and sighs. "Nothing, son." He approaches where Derek's still sitting on his knees, his cars in a pile all around. "It's nearly bed time, is all." He picks up some of the cars. "C'mon. Time to clean up."

Derek doesn't believe his papa because it's still light out and he doesn't go to bed until it's dark but he does as told. He has been raised to know that even though Anders isn't his Alpha, he _is_ his papa which means he _has_ to listen to him just like he listens to his Alpha, who just so happens to be his mama.

Once all the cars are put away, Anders picks him up to carry him from the room. When they pass where Talia is sitting, Derek all but jumps from Anders' arms to wrap himself around his mama's neck, ignoring the way his nose is itching.

He places a smacking kiss to her cheek and says, "I love you, Mama. Sorry I made you mad."

Talia smiles at him for the first time all day and runs one hand over his unruly black hair. "Oh, my darling boy. You did not make me angry. The pup will be here tonight and so everything rubs me the wrong way." She pulls him in to gently kiss his cheek. "I love you too, beautiful boy."

Andres picks Derek up again and they continue from the room and up the stairs. "The pup's coming tonight!" Derek's eyes are open so wide, Anders can see white all around his irises. "Can I stay up?"

"No. But I promise to come wake you and Laura once the pup is here."

Derek pouts but it doesn't work on his papa like it does on his mama.

Anders carries Derek into the room across the hall from the one he shares with Talia and finds Laura climbing under the covers. "Teeth all brushed?"

Laura nods her head, wiggling down under the covers. "Do I need to help Derek?"

"NO!" Derek sticks his tongue out at his older sister. "'m not a pup. Can do it m'self."

Laura rolls her eyes. She knows that Derek has hardly let their mama out of his sight all day and that she has spent much of the day on the couch, breathing oddly and counting.

"Thank you for offering, Laura, but as you can see Derek is already in his pajamas. I got him bathed and changed while you were helping your aunts clean up from dinner."

He sets Derek on the bed and tucks him in. Running one hand over his hair much like Talia did earlier, he leans down and kisses his brow. "Good-night, son." He rounds the bed and does the same to Laura. "Good-night, my daughter."

"Papa?" Laura whispers just before he exits the room.

"Yes, Laura?"

"Is the pup truly coming tonight?"

"Your mama says it is. I've already promised Derek I'd come get you both once it's here. Now, go to sleep." He flicks off the light and exits the room, leaving the door open a crack.

"Do you think it's a brother or a sister?" Derek asks, poking Laura in the back.

She smacks his hand away. "It doesn't matter which it is." Then, in a rare bout of jealousy, she flips over to face him and say, "It'll become Mama's favorite anyway because she only treats you the way she does because you're the youngest." She sticks her tongue out at him and turns back over to face away from him, pointedly ignoring the pang of guilt at his choked back sobs.

Derek wakes to a hand roughly shaking his shoulder and someone sharply calling his name. "Wake up!" He opens his eyes to find his aunt, Darya, the one who doesn't actively hate him, standing over him. "Your Alpha demands your presence."

"Is the pup here?" Derek climbs from the bed, yawning and stretching.

"Not yet." She turns and walks briskly from the room.

Derek has to run to keep up with her.

He knows he's being taken to the birthing room, even though he's never been there. He has seen it off in the distance through the trees but he's been told he must never go there until his Mate is birthing his pups.

When Darya turns down the mostly hidden path, he hesitates. Darya doesn't even stop, just keeps marching towards the stone and wood structure in the distance.

Chewing his lip in indecision, he shifts his weight from foot to foot. A deep growl that he recognizes as his mama's has him rushing forward. At the door, he brushes past his aunt and over to where his parents are sitting in the middle of the floor.

"Mama!" he cries when he sees the pained expression on her face.

"Oh, my beautiful boy! C'mon here." Talia holds out the hand not currently squeezing the life out of Adena's.

He slows his approach to a hesitant walk, chewing his thumb nail in a habit that his parents haven't been able to break him of. "Are you in pain, Alpha?"

He has never called his mama 'Alpha', but something about this moment forces the word from his lips.

"Yes, my boy. But it is a good kind of pain."

His brows lower in confusion. How can pain be good? Especially pain that makes his mama's eyes shift from her normal brown to Alpha red?

"Trust me, Derek. This pain means that I will soon bring another life into this world. And that, my darling, is a very good thing." She smiles at him and his papa tucks his nose behind her ear to whisper in a voice almost too low for Derek to hear. 

Whatever he said has Talia tipping her head back and sighing, allowing Anders to take more of her weight.

"But come, Derek. Help your Alpha deliver your brother or sister."

She beckons him forward with a wave of her fingers. He walks around behind where the midwife is kneeling between his mama's spread legs, making sure to keep his eyes on his mama's. When he gets to her side, she takes his hand and tugs him to his knees.

"Kneel here and put your hand here." She places his hand high on her rounded belly and covers it with her own. "Feel that?" 

He nods when he feels movement similar to when he would feel the pup kick.

"Is the pup kicking?"

"No. That is called a contraction. It is my muscles pushing the pup out. Your papa will push from the top and you will help take the pain and keep the pup calm."

Derek raises confused eyes to Talia's. "Keep it calm?"

"Yes. Listen." Talia leans forward and tucks one hand behind his ear. "Can you hear the heartbeat?"

He focuses and is able to filter out the ones he knows belong to the adults in the room due to how slowly they're beating compared to the pup in his mama's belly. "It's very fast."

"Yes, because the smaller the body, the faster the heartbeat. Now, keep listening." 

She takes his hand off her belly and the heartbeats get faster. He doesn't know for sure but he thinks it might be too fast. This time when he raises his eyes, Talia can see the concern in the light green depths. 

She runs the backs of her fingers along his cheek and smiles at how like his father he is, right down to his eye color. She remembers the day when they changed from blue to the beautiful green they are now.

"The pup likes you. Keep your hand right here-" She puts his tiny hand back on her extended belly. "-and help take my pain, not too much, now."

"You must concentrate, Beta Hale." The midwife is a nasty woman who speaks to his papa without any of the respect his is owed due to his being her Alpha's Mate.

But before Derek can open his mouth to remind her of her place, his mama gasps like a weight has been removed from her shoulders. Derek starts to lean over to see what's going on but is stopped by his mama's hand on his squeezing. When he looks at her, she just shakes her head.

He leans closer to her belly and begins whispering to his brother or sister about all the things he wants to show and teach them. He even kisses it. Talia runs her fingers through his hair and he thinks he hears her murmur 'my precious boy' but he can't be sure over his and his papa's voices.

"Almost now, Alpha."

"C'mon, little one. You can do it." Anders has been saying variations of the same thing ever since Derek entered the room.

"Stop, Beta Hale." The midwife puts one bloody hand up, almost in Anders' face.

"Is this one's shoulder stuck, too?" Talia raises her head to glare at the ugly old woman.

"No, Alpha. I fear the cord may be wrapped around it somewhere."

Talia's head flops back onto Anders' shoulder. "Do what you must," she says, placing her hand back on Derek's.

For the next several minutes, silence reigns in the room and Derek presses his face to his mama's belly, feeling the ripples of muscles trying to expel the body inside.

"Now, Beta Hale!"

Anders pushes harder and suddenly the scent of blood increases followed by a soft mewling sound. Derek risks a quick look down and sees a bloody body resting in the hands of the midwife. She roughly rubs a towel over the face and chest, prompting the pup to start crying.

One of the assistants wraps the pup in a blanket and hands it to Talia who instantly unwraps it and places its naked body on her equally naked chest. 

"You have a sister, Derek," Talia tells him, her voice thick with exhaustion and joy.

He chews on his lips before saying something he's sure he'll regret someday. "But I wanted a brother!"

All the adults in the room, even his aunts, burst out laughing. He doesn't think what he said was that funny but whatever, he'll never understand adults.

A couple of days later, Talia calls Derek into her room. He enters to find her removing the pup from her breast. "Would you like to hold her?" Talia stands up, tucking the pup into the crook of one arm before patting the seat of the rocking chair.

He shrugs and climbs up to sit down. He's sure he doesn't want to hold her but he knows his mama wouldn't understand his refusal. Talia carefully places the pup in his lap and curls his arms around the tiny body.

"There." She stands back, beaming at him. "So, your papa and I have been talking and we've decided that you should name her."

He raises panicked eyes to hers. "No…" He shakes his head, hard. 

He's no good at naming things. His stuffed animals are all named for the animal they are. He can't do this. A person's name is forever.

Talia kneels next to the chair and places her hands on the armrest. "Yes, my boy. You'll do perfectly. Just look at her and the name will come to you."

He looks down at the sleeping body in his arms and takes a real good look. Her skin is almost the exact same shade of pink as this pretty bit of coral he saw at the aquarium a few weeks ago during the field trip. And he realizes his mama was right. He does know the perfect name for her.

He looks up at Talia and says, "Cora'."

Talia's brows climb her forehead, she couldn't possible have heard him right. "Cora?" Where could he possibly have heard that name?

He nods and repeats, "Cora'."

"Cora, it is, then." Talia rubs his hair. "Told you, you could do it."

A pleased smile crosses his face. He just named another person for the first time and didn't mess it up.

Several months later, Derek is lying on his stomach on the floor of his mama's office playing with Coral. He can make her laugh quicker than anyone else. 

But right now he's trying to get her to start crawling even though his mama says she's too young for that yet. He's holding a toy just out of her reach. She goes to shift all her weight to her right arm, reaching for the toy with her left, when she rolls over on to her back.

Derek jumps to his feet. "Mama! Coral just rolleded over!"

Talia's head snaps up from the report she's reading. "What did you just say?"

"Coral just rolleded over!" He points at where she is lying on her back, cooing and chewing on her fingers.

"Did…did you just call her 'coral'?' Talia slowly stands up so she can see that Cora has indeed rolled over to her back.

Derek looks at Talia like she's grown another head. "Yes, Mama."

"Why?"

"It's her name."

Talia blinks at him, her mouth gaping open. Then she snaps it closed, biting her lips in an effort to not laugh. After clearing her throat she calls for Anders.

"Yes, my Alpha?" Anders enters the office wiping his hands on a dish towel.

"First, your daughter just rolled over from her front to her back, right on schedule. And second,-" She has to clear her throat again. "-Derek, tell your father what you called your sister." She sits back down, her lips pressed tightly together.

"I called her by the name I gave her."

"Uh-huh." Talia nods her head. "And what is that, exactly?" She lifts her brows and tilts her head.

Derek looks from her to his papa and back before saying, hesitantly, "Coral?"

Anders stuffs one fist in his mouth, cutting off the snort of laughter that's threatening to escape. He approaches where Derek is standing looking like he's about to cry. Crouching down, he wraps the slim body in his arms. "Oh, no. Don't cry, son. You did nothing wrong. We just want to know why you're calling her that."

"Because that's the name I gave her."

"We thought you named her 'Cora'." Anders looks up at Talia and shrugs.

Talia sighs deeply. "He was still having trouble saying certain sounds when she was born. It's possible he couldn't say 'coral' properly."

"Uh-huh." Anders picks Derek up. "I tell you what: you keep calling her 'coral' while the rest of us call her 'Cora'. That way it'll be something special between just the two of you. How 'bout it?"

Derek sniffs and rubs one eye with his fist. "Okay."

"Okay." Anders encourages him to tuck his head under his chin and rubs his back. "How about a nap in the hammock?"

Derek has been slowly shifting from Mama's Boy to Papa's Boy over the past few months and Anders takes every opportunity to indulge him.

When Derek nods his head, Anders blows a kiss at Talia and walks out to the back porch where he climbs into the hammock before tucking Derek's tiny body against his side.

As Derek grows, so does the pull of the full moon. Each month it becomes more difficult to not sneak out to the back porch where he can watch the Pack come back from their run. And where he can watch his papa wrap his big hand around his mama's neck, pull her close and lick his way into her mouth. He knows this happens after each run because he's always awakened by the howls and cheers from the Pack at this proof that their Alpha is content with her Mate.

Laura has her first shift four months before her tenth birthday. Derek is convinced he'll have his first when he's the same age. But it isn't until the morning of the full moon just three days before his tenth birthday that he wakes with his skin feeling too tight and a nearly unbearable itch in the middle of his back between his shoulder blades.

He is so very sure that this all means that tonight is the night! He'll shift for the first time and be allowed to run with his Pack and laugh and joke with them and watch his parents celebrate another month by making out in the yard with their Pack surrounding them.

His sisters are still sleeping, so he slips quietly from the bed and rushes through getting dressed before skipping down the stairs. In the kitchen he finds his mother pulling a carton of eggs from the fridge.

"Morning, my darling boy." She smiles at him. 

He smiles back and sits in his chair at the table, reaching for a glass and the jug of orange juice. "Morning, Mama."

"How would you like your eggs?"

"Over easy, please."

"Over easy it is." Talia breaks two eggs into the hot frying pan, keeping an eye on where her son is fidgeting in his chair more than he usually does. "Is there a problem, Derek?"

"No, Mama." He sits on his hands in an effort to stop the fidgeting.

A small knowing smile lifts the corners of Talia's mouth. She's positive the reason is that Derek is nearing his first shift. She remembers how her whole body itched the day of her first shift. Luckily hers happened on a weekend so she didn't have to worry about sitting still at school.

Talia brings Derek a plate with two eggs on it and leans down to kiss the top of his head. "Eat up. All growing Werewolves need their energy."

Derek scoops several slices of bacon and a couple pieces of toast onto his plate before breaking the yolks on his eggs.

"Mama?" He takes a huge gulp of juice, waiting for Talia to make a noise indicating that she's listening. "What was your first shift like?"

"It was the most wonderful experience. Of course, I wasn't able to fully shift yet. As far as I know, Laura is the only one who has been able to from their first shift."

"Uh-huh. Not exactly what I was asking."

He starts shoveling food into his mouth, if he's quick enough he could possibly get his papa to take him to school without Laura.

"What _exactly_ are you asking, then, my boy?"

He swallows the food in his mouth and tries to find the words. "What...what did it feel like?"

Talia tilts her head. "It's different for everyone and even if it wasn't, it's not something I can describe."

"Does it hurt?"

 _Ah,_ Talia thinks. _That's what he's after._

"It does. But only the first few times. Once you learn to control it, it doesn't hurt. And, in fact, it becomes second nature."

Derek doesn't think that's what he really wanted to know, so he drops the topic and returns his attention to his food.

He's nearly finished eating when Anders enters the kitchen. "Morning, my Alpha," he whispers into the hair at the nape of Talia's neck.

"Morning, my love." Talia turns in his arms and brushes her lips across his. "Your son is curious about his first shift. Why don't you take him to school and I'll take Laura? That way you two can have a father/son talk."

"Of course." Anders turns to find Derek staring at him. "You ready, son?"

"Just need to brush my teeth," Derek says before running from the kitchen and up the stairs to the bathroom.

For the first ten minutes of the ride, the car is totally silent. Anders knows his son well enough to know that he won't talk until he's good and ready. Although, for Talia to 'suggest' he take Derek to school, alone, means she thinks he needs a little push on this.

Since they're running early, Anders pulls over into an empty parking lot. He shuts off the engine, and turns expectantly to face the back seat. "Well?"

With a huge sigh, Derek unbuckles his seat belt and climbs into the front seat. He sits on his feet in the passenger seat. "What did it feel like the day you first shifted?"

"What do you mean?"

Derek rolls his whole head and makes a frustrated noise. "How did you know that you were going to shift for the first time?"

"Oh!" Anders slumps back against his door. His first shift isn't something he's thought about in a long time so it takes him a minute to remember. He tilts his head when he can't recall. "I don't remember. It was so long ago. I was just a few months older than you are now." He shrugs. "I'm sorry, son. Can you tell me why you're asking?"

With a low growl, Derek flops back in the seat, turning to look out the window. "My skin feels too tight and there's this stupid itch between my shoulder blades! No amount of scratching has made it go away."

"Ah." Anders chuckles softly. "The full moon calls to your wolf. You will most likely shift soon."

"Tonight?" Derek perks up, excitement thrumming through his veins.

"Possibly. But don't count on it." Anders taps the tip of Derek's nose. "Chances are this is just your wolf stretching his limbs in preparation of shifting."

"But there's a chance?"

Anders' smile is soft and loving. "Yes, my son. It's possible that your first shift will be tonight."

Derek's smile is so wide, Anders' cheeks hurt in sympathy. "Now, get back in your seat and buckle up. You're almost late for school."

The rest of the day is a study in patience for Derek. He has trouble concentrating for the first time ever. And more than once, Mrs. Douglas has to send him into the hall for disrupting his neighbors with his fidgeting.

But the end of the day finally comes. As he's exiting the room with his class, Mrs. Douglas calls him back.

"What is with you today, Derek?" She flashes her Beta gold eyes, reminding him he can confide in her as a member of his Pack.

He looks around, then leans in close. "It's the full moon."

Mrs. Douglas leans over her desk and whispers back, "I know." Her eyes open wide as what he means hits her. "Do you think tonight'll be your first?"

He nods. "It just might be." The smile he hasn't been able to truly keep off his face widens.

"Oh, I do hope so! There's nothing like your first shift." Her eyes take on a dreamy quality as if she's lost in the memory of her first shift.

After a long moment, she snaps out of it, shaking her head. "Well! You must be going. Your mother will be waiting for you. I hope to see you tonight."

With a slight wave over his shoulder, Derek leaves the room, heading for the exit and the carpool lane where his mother is waiting to pick him up.

Luckily Derek's parents remember what it's like, waiting for your first shift to happen, and so don't force Derek to sit still, too much, during dinner. They do, however, force him to finish his homework. And go to bed at his usual time.

"But, Mama! What if tonight's the night?" His eyes are open wide, pleading without words for his mama to let him stay up.

"Then you'll get up at moon rise, just like everyone else." She presses a kiss to his forehead. "Even Werewolves need sleep, my darling."

"But 'm not sleepy," he says around a yawn.

"Mmhm." Talia just barely refrains from laughing in her son's face. "I know you're not. But just try. For me?"

Derek sighs. "Okay, Mama." He closes his eyes and rolls over to his side, already slipping into slumber.

"Every time," Talia murmurs, kissing her daughters' foreheads in turn before exiting the room.  
= = = =  
"Get up, nerd face!" Laura slaps Derek on the butt, hard. "It's nearly moon rise."

With an excited yelp, Derek jumps from the bed, stripping off his clothes quicker than he ever has before.

Downstairs, he finds the whole pack, those that can shift, that is, milling about on the lawn between the house and the woods. In the middle of the crowd are his parents and Laura, staring at him expectantly.

As the clouds part to reveal the moon, the members of the Pack begin to shift, one by one, and turn to run off into the woods. Eventually only Derek and his little family are left. Laura fully shifts and with a howl that's answered quickly, she takes off into the woods, chasing the other members of the Pack. Then Talia shifts and sits on her haunches, staring at Derek as if to say 'now you'.

Derek meets Anders' gaze, his mouth dropping open when the shift doesn't happen. He steps off the porch into the moonlight proper, thinking that maybe he needs to be directly in the light. But still nothing happens. And that's when he realizes that it won't. Not this month.

With a whimper of distress, he turns and bolts back upstairs to his room where he hides under the bed.

Down in the yard, Anders starts to follow his son, but Talia steps into his path and shakes her head, flicking it toward the woods. Anders is torn between his fatherly duty to his son and his duty to obey his Alpha. His Alpha wins out. For now. But he fully plans to go straight up to Derek when they come back from their run, no making out with Talia for him this night. Not when his son needs him.  
= = = =  
Over the next few weeks, Derek becomes even more withdrawn from the Pack. He just knows they're all laughing about him behind his back. He's positive that even Laura is making fun of him, even though she's actually being super nice to him.

He actually puts his foot down about eating Thanksgiving (his favorite holiday) with the Pack. Everyone, even him, is surprised when Talia allows him to tell her no.

Christmas ends up being just the five of them, instead of the whole Pack. Derek knows Talia changed the plans for him, even of she denies it when asked.

By the time April rolls around, he's mostly gotten over his embarrassment over his non-shift, but he is still incredibly withdrawn from the Pack, something Talia knows she should be worried about. But she has other, more pressing matters to deal with. Like teaching Laura how to hunt.

For all of Laura's fierceness, she has trouble actually killing the deer they catch. Talia has been doing her best to help her get over it, but it's not something she ever dealt with so she's at a loss as to how to truly help; beyond taking her to the woods every chance she gets, that is.

Today is just one such day. Derek has been sitting on the front porch steps since he got home from school and is still there when Laura saunters out of the house in her full shift form.

As is her habit, she 'accidentally' bumps his shoulder with hers as she walks past. This earns her a hissed curse and a glare. She just turns her head to smirk at him, as much as a wolf can smirk, that is.

Talia exits the house still Human and sees Laura's smirk. "Laura." She flashes her eyes when Laura meets her gaze. "What have I told you about teasing your brother?"

And now Derek's humiliation is complete. There's nothing like your mother, even if she is your Alpha, fighting your battles, even those with your sister, for you to make you feel like a powerful Wolf. His whole body explodes with the heat of an embarrassed flush. 

"Mom!" He twists to stare open mouthed up at her.

Talia sighs. When did he stop calling her 'Mama'? Derek is no longer her little pup, hasn't been for a while now. But she's still finding it hard to not step in when she sees someone mistreating him, old habits and all that.

"Sorry, baby." She reaches out to rub his hair and he pulls away.

"I'm not a baby!" he hisses, hoping Laura is far enough away to not hear.

"No, of course not." Talia's throat is tight with tears that she'll shed later tonight on Anders' shoulder while retelling the story of how her baby boy has grown up and thinks he no longer needs her.

"Just...go!" He waves at where Laura is waiting for her by the treeline. "Mom!" 

His eyes flash and Talia has one thought: will his first shift happen next week with this month's full moon? His eyes have been flashing when he's upset or angry for weeks now. She really expected his first shift to happen last month. She could have sworn she saw hints of fangs in his mouth when she caught him in a screaming match with Laura about something that could only be important to the very young.

"I love you." She really wants to lean down to kiss him but he nipped that in the bud a couple of months ago. As well as demanding to have his own bed, albeit still in the room with his sisters, but separate all the same. 

With another sigh, she throws off the robe she's wearing and fully shifts before trotting into the woods with Laura at her side.

"You really shouldn't envy her, little prince." Derek's uncle Peter's voice is just as oily as his smell.

"Peter," Derek says through gritted teeth.

All his life he's been told to stay away from Peter. And yet, Peter always manages to get him alone at moments when he's feeling particularly low.

"Ah, ah, ah. What have I told you to call me?"

Derek rolls his eyes, hard, before spitting out, 'Uncle Peter', like it leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

"Good boy." Peter has a knack for making every thing he says sound like he's granting you a special honor just by allowing you to be in his presence. In fact, he has a way of making you feel like you should be honored he hasn't killed you yet.

"Not. A. Dog." Derek only lets one person call him 'boy' and he's been thinking of asking her to stop for a few weeks now.

"Oh, but technically, yes, you are."

Derek turns to glare at Peter's smug face.

"I'm a Werewolf, not a dog."

Peter's eyebrows climb his forehead. "Are you sure? Because Werewolves shift on the full moon."

"Your Alpha has told you to never speak to any of her pups."

The tension that had settled on Derek's shoulders when Peter sat down next to him, loosens a little at his papa's voice.

"But especially the boy, right?" If there's anyone who Peter is truly nasty with, it's Anders. Derek thinks it has to do with the fact that Anders comes from a really small Pack and didn't bring anything important to the match he made with Talia.

"I don't know why you keep disobeying this particular order, Peter. You know that you owe your entire life to your Alpha."

"Oh, yes. And my place within this Pack, too, hm?" He stands and faces Anders, his face twisting into a smirk of anger.

"I didn't put you there, Peter." Anders steps closer so that he's toe to toe with the slightly taller man.

"No, but you didn't try to keep me from it."

Peter is only still a member of the Pack because Talia wishes it. If she wasn't Alpha, Peter would have died with his mother or, if he had survived, he would definitely have been run off after his first shift nine years ago.

"You know that Talia cannot order the Pack to be nice to you. Besides, you don't help your case by being so…" Anders falters for words and just ends up waving one hand in his general direction.

Peter gives a small chuckle that sounds even more evil than if he had cackled like a Witch. "Maybe I should leave, then."

Anders sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed. "You know that's not what Talia wants."

"But it _is_ what you want, isn't it? That way you don't have to worry that I'll corrupt your little prince with my evil?"

Anders' eyes snap open and then narrow on Peter's face. "Leave Derek out of it."

"Or what?" Peter sticks his lower lip out in a mock pout. "You'll run tell your Alpha?" The way Peter says 'your Alpha' shows just how much he doesn't respect his brother-in-law.

Derek has never seen his father shift so fast. Before he knows it, Anders has one clawed hand wrapped loosely around Peter's neck. But despite the fact that Anders can rip his throat out in seconds, Peter's smirk is still firmly in place.

"You know I don't need to tell _your_ Alpha that you've broken her number one rule for you. Yet again. I can deal with you how I see fit." Anders shifts his stance and his face twists in a smirk of his own. "You see, that's what being the Alpha's Mate is all about. Her pups are mine, too. And if one of them is being threatened, well-" Anders shrugs and tightens his grip on Peter's neck. "-not a single person would bat an eye."

Something in Anders' tone must get through, because suddenly Peter isn't looking quite so smug and Derek can hear him starting to have difficulty breathing.

"Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, very," Peter says and Derek can smell that it's the truth; Peter is now very afraid of Anders.

"Now. Do I have to remind you, _again_ , to stay the fucking hell away from my pups?"

"N-no."

"Good." Anders releases Peter with a shove that has him stumbling backwards down the porch steps.

He takes one last look at Derek before turning and walking as fast as he can without actually running to where his car is parked. When he pulls out, he leaves a trail of dust in his wake.

"I didn't know you were such a badass, Papa!"

Anders sits on the steps next to his son. "What? You thought that because I defer to your mother, I'm not strong?"

Derek never thought such a thing but Anders has always been so laid back and easy going that he didn't know he had a temper.

"No. I just didn't know you could get angry."

Anders runs his fingers through Derek's hair, something that Talia is no longer allowed to do. "Violence should never be your first reaction. Not even to Peter."

"But he gave you no choice."

"You think so?"

Derek nods his head. "He was taunting you."

A proud smile spreads over Anders' face. "You've been reading the dictionary again, haven't you?"

Derek slumps against the railing post. "I just get so bored!"

"Okay. I guess I know what your welcome home present will be this time."

At Anders' words, the tension is back in Derek's shoulders. He knows what Anders means and he doesn't like it. The full moon is exactly seven days away and the closer it gets, the more Derek feels like he might be about to shift. Laura told him the other day that during an argument they had, his eyes flashed Beta gold. And he's noticed Talia watching him, concern heavy in her brown eyes.

"But the full moon!"

Anders nods his head. "Yes. It's next week. I promise I'll be back in time."

"Papa!" Derek turns to face him, anxiety pulling his brows down over his nose.

"What, Derek? It's just a short business trip to LA. I've made the trip hundreds of times over the years." 

As Talia's Second, and the Pack's accountant, it's up to Anders to personally visit all their investments and properties periodically.

"I have a bad feeling about it, this time."

Derek has never told anyone that he sometimes has dreams about bad things happening to the people he loves. He's been having a particularly nasty one about Anders for a full month, now.

Anders smiles at his son and brushes the hair off his forehead, thinking that he'll need a haircut soon. "Nothing will happen, Derek. I promise." He knows it's not really something he can promise, but if it calms his son, then he'll promise him world peace.

"When are you leaving?" Derek lowers his head so his papa doesn't see the tears swimming in his eyes.

"After breakfast tomorrow. I'll be back sometime Thursday or Friday."

"You promise?" Derek's voice is softer than Anders has ever heard it.

"Cross my heart." Anders does the motion, even though Derek doesn't lift his head to see.

Derek is just stubborn enough to refuse to go down to breakfast the next morning. He hates that his papa isn't listening to him; isn't taking his feelings into consideration.

When Anders appears at the open door, Derek keeps his gaze fixed firmly on the view outside his window.

"I'm leaving, now, Derek."

Derek doesn't move a single muscle.

Anders sighs and sags against the frame. "I love you, son. You say you want us to treat you like the adult you think you are, but you're not acting like one right now." Another sigh. "Okay. Well, I have to go. I'll call every night. I hope you grow up enough to talk to me when I do."

Anders is only a couple of steps from the door, when Derek tackles him from behind, nearly knocking him off his feet.

"I don't want you to go!" The fear is heavy in Derek's voice and his scent reeks with it.

Anders pats the arms wrapped tight around his waist. "I know, son. I know. But I have to. This is my job." He manages to pry the arms loose enough to turn around and crouch down. "Hey." He takes Derek's tear streaked face in his hands and tilts it up enough to see his eyes, swallowing his surprise at the gold tinge around the edges of the hazel green. "I'll be back before you know it. I've done this before. And for longer than a week."

He wipes at the tears with his thumbs.

Derek's lower lip trembles and he throws himself into his papa's arms, sobbing so hard he's in danger of hyperventilating. "Please! Don't! Go!" he hiccups through his sobs.

"Talia," Anders calls softly and Talia appears as if by magic; or like she was waiting out of sight for just this moment.

"C'mere, my beautiful boy," she croons softly while peeling his arms from around his papa's neck. "It'll be alright."

Derek has never had a single moment of separation anxiety in his life. Not even when they took him to preschool for the first time. So for him to be acting like this, now, is something of a shock and leaves his parents at a loss as to what to do.

Derek wraps himself just as tightly around his mama and clings for dear life. "Don't make him go, Alpha! Please!"

Talia knows she's going to have to talk to Derek about using her title while begging but not now. No, now, she needs to get Anders out of the house before Derek cries himself sick.

"Go, Anders." She waves him away. "He's not going to calm down while you're here. So, just go."

He leans over the sobbing body of his son and kisses his Mate. "Until Friday, my Alpha." He runs the backs of his fingers down her cheek. "I love you." And with that he's down the stairs, out the front door and in the car.

Derek's howls get louder when he hears the engine turn over and they drown out the sound of the car speeding down the drive.

The following days are pure torture for everyone in the Hale Pack. Derek is constantly demanding to know when Anders will return and Talia is hard pressed to keep her anger in check. Not once in his life has Talia ever lost patience with Derek and she really doesn't want to start now. So, unfortunately, her limited patience tends to end while dealing with the other members of her Pack. 

Even her daughters. Which makes Laura resent Derek just that much more. Cora is too young to truly understand that her mother's short temper with her is actually meant for Derek. Not that she would really care if she did. Derek is her big brother. He gave her the super cool name of Coral, even if he's the only one who gets to use it. And he also helped her be born. She loves Derek and would willingly take any punishment meant for him.

But Laura has always resented how their parents treated them like Derek could do no wrong and she could do no right. Absently, deep down where she refuses to acknowledge it, she knows it's mostly because she's being raised as the next Alpha of an old and powerful Pack. But that doesn't mean she has to like it.

Her anger with him is strong enough that for the first time, she's glad they no longer share a bed and wishes they didn't have to share a room. But the house is full of Pack members and everyone has to share a room. Being Talia's daughter doesn't mean she's any different in that respect. Even Talia shared a room, and bed, with her sisters until she Mated Anders.

Every night, an hour before bedtime, Anders calls. He speaks with Talia for ten minutes, then each of the pups for five minutes each: Derek first, then Laura, and finally Cora. He finishes off the call with Talia, talking about his reason for being away from home.

Until Thursday morning when everything changes.

Derek wakes with his skin feeling hot and too tight, similar to how it felt back in November. But this time there's no itch. He hasn't had enough life experience to know if it means something bad or not; just that it's different and he's all jittery like he's had too much sugar.

When he enters the kitchen, he finds Talia on the phone, a pleased smile on her face.

"Yeah." Her voice is soft like it only ever is for Anders. "He's right here."

She hands the phone to Derek and says, unnecessarily, "It's your papa."

"Papa!" Derek shrieks into the phone.

_"Hey, there, bud. How's it going?"_

"When are you coming home?"

Anders' chuckle is a soothing balm over Derek's raw nerves. _"I'm leaving later this morning."_

"Will you be home when I get out of school?"

_"Doubtful, bud. But I promise I'll be home by the time you wake tomorrow."_

"Truly?" Derek can feel his eyes burning with tears he refuses to shed.

 _"Truly."_ There's a muffled conversation, then Anders is sighing into the phone. _"Listen, bud, I gotta go. Can I talk to your mom again?"_

Derek sighs shakily and says, "Okay."

 _"I love you, Derek."_ Anders knows he doesn't say it enough.

"Love you, too, Papa." Derek hands the phone back to Talia and mournfully makes his way to the table where the cereal and milk are waiting for him and his sisters to come downstairs to eat.

He knows he should be excited that his papa is coming home but he just can't find the energy. He wants Anders to be home, now, not later today and definitely not tomorrow. He's beginning to think the tightness of his skin is a warning that something bad is going to happen and so he needs his family, his _Pack_ , all here with him where he knows they're all safe and sound.

He doesn't even think about asking to stay home. Talia has never let him or Laura stay home from school, not even the day after a full moon. So he knows she'll never let him.

Mrs. Douglas seems to know that Anders is returning soon because she just lets him brood in the back corner. He's supposed to be working on some worksheets but, really, it's just busy work to make it appear like he's learning along with the rest of the class.

At the house that afternoon, he follows Talia around, asking her if she's heard from Anders yet. Talia's response is always the same: she stops whatever she's doing, takes his face in her hands and says, "Oh, my darling boy. He'll be home soon. He promised, didn't he?"

Derek barely eats any of his dinner, too busy demanding to know exactly when his papa will be home. Laura's temper breaks and she shifts into her Beta form and snarls at Derek that he needs to stop asking, that Papa will be home when he gets home and that his asking isn't going to make it happen any faster.

Talia orders Laura from the table, after making her apologize to her brother, telling her that an Alpha never lets their Pack see when they're angry. Laura just raises one brow because for the past week she has been snapping at everyone except for Derek.

The second Talia hears the door to the room slam, she turns to Derek and sighs. "Derek, you have to stop asking. Your papa is driving so he hasn't been able to call. I have no way of knowing exactly how far away he is. I promise you, if he's not here before you go to bed, he will be here when you wake up." She smiles gently at him. "Now, please. For my sanity, and your sister's, stop asking."

Derek swallows back the lump growing in his throat and nods his understanding. "May I be excused?" he asks, knowing he's not going to be able to eat anything.

Talia nods. She hates that she can't comfort her son right now but nothing short of his papa is going to ease the pain he's currently in.

Derek manages to not mention Anders again until bedtime where he switches from asking when he'll be home, to if he can stay up until he gets home.

Talia smiles lovingly at her son. "I'm sorry, my darling. You have school tomorrow."

Derek lets big, fat tears gather in his eyes. It's a tactic he hasn't used since he was six. "Please, Mama?" He hopes that the combination of his tears and her old name, the one she loves to hear, will get him what he wants. "If it was a full moon, I'd be allowed."

"If it was a full moon, you'd go to sleep and we'd wake you at moon rise."

"But, Mama-" He doesn't even have time to figure out what else to say before her eyes shift to Alpha red and her face starts to shift into her Beta form.

She then folds in on herself with a soul deep moan before throwing back her head and howling deep and long. It's a howl full of sadness and is so mournful that Derek's tears become real.

And then he feels his face changing, his teeth and nails growing, hair growing on his face where previously there was none. Then he's throwing back his head and joining his mama in howling the agony of losing a member of his Pack.

In the double bed, Laura has shifted into her Beta form and her and Cora are both whining low in their throats while baring their necks to their Alpha. Derek collapses on the bed, panting, and startles when he hears the rest of the Pack join in the howl. He hasn't heard a howl like this since one of the elders died a couple of years ago. No, that's not true. He's _never_ heard a howl like this. This howl is coming from the very depths of his mama's soul, the pain and loss and grief is rippling through the rest of the Pack. And he knows that it'll be felt for a very long time.

The door is thrown open and Derek's aunts rush inside, going instantly to Talia's side. They pick her up and murmur soothing words, telling her she needs to hide her grief until the authorities come to notify her, that they can't see her like this. She nods her head slowly, allowing them to lead her from the room.

Derek dashes from his bed to the one he used to share with his sisters. Now is not the time for sibling disagreements. Now is the time for comfort and solidarity.

"If this is what it means to love someone, I won't ever do it," Derek says, his voice scratchy from his first true howl.

"Der, you shifteded." Cora pokes at the bridge of his nose.

Derek looks over her head at Laura who's nodding. "You did."

"It's not a full moon. How'd he shift?" Cora has her face buried in his chest, now.

"Mama's howl," Laura says, softly. "It has to have been."

"But it's not the full moon." Derek has never heard of a first shift happening like this.

"I know, Der. But you've been hovering on the edge of your first shift for _months_ , now. And the full moon is in just over twenty-four hours. Mama's howl was deep enough to force it." Laura wraps her arms around both her siblings and holds tight.

"As for not letting yourself love someone, you can't make that promise, Derek."

"I can." He bends his head until his nose is buried in Cora's hair so he can scent her, then leans up so he can scent Laura, too. "I'm never taking a Mate."

Laura smirks at him but it doesn't have its usual arrogance behind it. "You will."

He lays his head back on the pillow and says with the defiance only one so young can have, "I won't."


	3. Ages 12-14 years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to say that I have no idea when the next part will be posted since it hasn't been written yet.

_I won't ever fall in love._

I made the vow on the night Papa died. Laura thinks I won't be able to keep it but I'm sure I will.

Despite seeing how the Mated adults react after the run on the full moon, I know I can keep from loving someone so much that their death leaves me broken.

Although, as the months pass, it has become clear to me that seeing some of the adults naked is having an effect on me. I'm not sure what it means and I refuse to ask Mom about it because I'm fairly certain I know how she'd react and that is not something I want to deal with.

Plus I'm able to ignore it until one morning when I’m twelve that I wake up with what I know is a hard on, thanks to my Human friends. Also because of them, I think of it as something to hide instead of something that's completely normal.

Luckily, Cora and Laura are already downstairs so I can take as long as needed in the shower. And I don't have to try and figure out how to explain it to Cora who's just six.

The older boys of the Pack ignore me so completely that I'm able to listen in to their conversations and other than the talk of supernatural things, they're just like the ones my Human friends and I have. But over time they go from complete and utter lies about sex to discussing what sex is actually like and how to jerk yourself off.

I decide to try during my shower. Reaching down, I wrap my fingers around my dick and stroke toward the tip. One of the boys said he likes to twist the head so I try it. It feels incredible and has me sagging forward enough that I have to lean on one hand against the wall when my knees give out at the sensation.

When I run my hand back down, I tighten my grip and find it's even better. Deciding to experiment a bit, I stroke toward the tip with a looser grip than on the stroke toward my belly. And pulling my foreskin over the head and running a finger or two inside is the best! 

Just as the water starts going cold, I speed up my strokes and soon I feel my balls pull toward my body and then I'm shaking all over. I know from what I've overheard, that I just had an orgasm but nothing came out of my dick. The boys said I should have what they called jizz come spurting out of my cock but nothing did.

I tell myself to look it up just as soon as I can do so without my family finding out.

I quickly finish bathing and rush through getting dressed, Mom will be getting impatient for me to come down to breakfast.

I reach the bottom of the stairs just as Peter is coming in the front door. His nostrils flare as he takes a deep breath, something he's been doing around me more of late. The grin that then splits his face can only be described as pure evil.

"So, nephew, it finally happened. Congrats. Tell me," He slips one arm over my shoulders, pulling me closer. "What did you think about?" When I go to shrug his arm off, he just tightens his hold, bending me over a little so he can rub his knuckles over my hair, chuckling when I growl a warning at him. "Me, I think about the hot chick who takes my order at Starbucks. I bet she's got a tight-"

"Peter Michael Hale!" Mom's Alpha voice cuts off whatever he was going to say.

He laughs again and lets me go. "Come now, Talia. The little prince needs to know these things. And since his father is no longer with us, it falls to me as his closest male relative to make sure he knows."

Mom approaches where we're standing in the foyer. "You have been warned multiple times to leave my pups alone. Why do you insist on testing my patience when it comes to my son?"

He shrugs. "Like I said, the boy doesn't have a father. As your brother, I feel it is my duty to step up and fill that role. Especially since it looks like you're not going to Mate again."

Mom's eyes flash red and a calm that is much more dangerous than if she was snarling, descends over her. "That is not your place, Peter. If I wished you to teach my son anything, I would have commanded you to do so. Since I did not, please feel free to assume that I do not wish it." She steps around Peter to turn me with a hand to my shoulder. "As it is, my son is only twelve. He does not need to learn what you think about during your 'personal time' just yet, if ever." We're almost to the kitchen when she turns and shows claws and fangs. "It's times like this that I regret saving your life." Leaning closer, she snarls in his ear. "Do not make me change my mind about your continued existence."

"But the little prince doesn't have a father to teach him these things!" Peter's chin lifts and for just a moment I can see the lost little boy he must have once been.

"Do not call him that," Mom hisses, taking another step closer to him. "You fawning all over him is driving a wedge between him and the Pack. He is nothing like you, nor will he ever be."

Peter's jaw works as if he's trying to prevent himself from saying something he'll regret. But Peter has always needed to get the last word and now is no different. "Maybe you should have let me die with our mother." He doesn't stay to see the stricken look on Mom's face, just spins on his heel and marches from the house.

The tension in the room is so thick, it's difficult to breathe. Mom turns to face me, blinking back tears, smile shaky.

"Oh, my darling." She reaches for my face and for the first time in a couple of years, I let her hold my cheeks and press her forehead to mine. "Promise me you won't ever go to him for advice. That you'll come to me or one of your other uncles."

Even though her sisters do not trust me, in fact, they make no secret of their dislike for me, their Mates have always been kind to me; especially since Papa died nearly two years ago.

I want to give her my promise but I can't. My uncles shouldn't be so nice to me, not when their Mates don't like me, and I refuse to cause conflict in their lives just because I no longer have a father to go to. But I can make her think I've agreed so I nod my head. She smiles sadly and presses a kiss to my forehead, "That's my good boy."

Over the next several weeks, I learn other ways of dealing with my hard ons, ways that don't include me jerking off. And I begin to actively avoid Peter. He just smirks at me the rare times we have to be in the same room. Mom tries to talk to me about sex and personal pleasure but it's awkward at best and mortifying at worst. I know that Weres have no hang ups about sex but for whatever reason, I just cannot discuss it with my mother. I'm beginning to think that it might have something to do with the fact that all my friends are Human and their hang ups are being transferred to me.

_I won't ever fall in love._

A promise that hasn't been difficult to keep.

Until I meet Paige. The second I lay eyes on her, my whole world turns upside down, and for the first time in my life, I hate being a Wolf.

It's a few days before basketball tryouts and my friends and I are messing around in the hall near the music room. Over our boisterous conversation and laughter, I can hear the mellow sounds of a cello floating towards us down the hall.

Suddenly the music cuts off and a pretty girl steps out into the hall; her annoyance evident in every fiber of her being and the red hot scent of cinnamon that reaches me before she does. 

"Do you guys mind? I'm trying to practice." She walks right up to me and I fully expect her to poke me in the chest.

"How do you know we're not trying to practice, here, too?" I try to charm her by smiling. Mom has always told me I have a very charming smile.

"Yeah, well, see, I was practicing in the music room, and I'm pretty sure basketball practice takes place in the gym."

My friends mumble some joking insults and then laugh loudly and rudely. I can't help the smirk at their words. While I'm positive she didn't hear exactly what they said, she can surely guess, and as I watch, a flush creeps up her neck to bloom across her face.

"Well, I'm pretty sure basketball practice takes place anywhere you got a basketball. See?" I dribble the ball in a figure eight through and around my legs. 

Her jaw tightens and she spins on her heel, blinking back tears. Her distress hits me like a punch to the gut and I instantly feel bad for how I've been treating her. "Wait, hold on." I glance over my shoulder at my friends who are still chuckling. "Hold on. If you get the ball from me, maybe I'll stop." She pauses but doesn't turn around. "Come on. It'll be easy." 

She squares her shoulders, turns sharply on her heel and marches back. She does try to get the ball from me but I don't even try to make it easy for her. I dribble the ball from hand to hand, between my legs and around my back. She almost falls when she tries to get the ball from me. The look on her face when she turns to go back to the music room makes me feel even worse than before.

My friends laugh and slap me on the back before wandering off back towards the gym. I start to follow them but the spicy scent of her humiliation, and my part in it, force me to go and try to make it right.

Stepping into the music room, I run straight into a solid wall of anger that she has wrapped around her like a cloak. "Sorry about that," I say with as much sincerity as I can.

"Whatever." Her tone slaps me in the face.

"Hey, what's your name?" I can feel her desire for me to walk away and put my hands in my pockets to keep from chewing on my thumbnail.

"I'm trying to practice, if you didn't notice." She fidgets with the sheet music on the stand in front of her

"Okay. I'll just leave you alone, then." I turn like I'm about to leave, then turn back and say, "After you tell me your name."

"Alright, I'll tell you my name. If you can play one instrument in this room." 

My heart skips a beat at her pronouncement. Taking a quick look around, I swallow thickly when I can't even name most of the instruments in this room and she expects me to be able to play one? "One?"

"Just one." I can hear the smirk that must be gracing her face.

I spy the one instrument that anyone can play. "Any of them?" She nods. I walk over to the shelf and pick up the smallest one in the room. Lifting it and the little metal bar that goes with it, I tap the side of the triangle, satisfying her condition.

"My name's Paige. Now please go so I can practice." She puts her cello to her shoulder and picks up her bow.

"My name's-" I start but she talks over me.

"I know who you are," she says before promptly ignoring me.

I smile at the back of her head and decide that she's gonna love me.

Over the course of the next several weeks, I slowly get her to let me share space with her. At first, she doesn't want to allow it but once she realizes that I'm not going anywhere, she gives in so long as I stay quiet.

But it quickly becomes obvious that it's my presence that bothers her the most and I love it; love that just by being near her, I can unsettle her so much.

"What are you staring at?" she demands twenty minutes into her hour long practice several weeks later.

"I'm not staring. I'm listening. Am I distracting you?" I slowly stalk her where she's sitting.

She tosses her head as well as she's able with the cello resting on her shoulder. "No. I've got laser like focus." Her heart skips and the sour note of her lie filters across the room.

"You sure about that?" I step closer, lean down, and run my lips over her ear. She shudders at the feel of my breath against her skin.

"I hate you," she whispers even as she tilts her head to give me better access.

"No, you don't. You love me." Her breath hitches at my words.

"Hate you." Her voice holds a note of amusement but she doesn't deny my claim.

"You love me," I say again and my heart stutters in my chest at just how much I love her.

A week later we've snuck away to spend some time alone.

We've been kissing for several minutes when my fingers slip slowly under the hem of her shirt. Paige grabs my wrist just before they can touch her skin. "Derek." She pulls back from the kiss, her small hand pressing on my shoulder in an attempt to put some space between us.

I swallow a sigh. "I just wanted to touch you." And I do; skin to skin touch is so important to Wolves.

"I'm not ready." I can see the tears beginning to gather in her eyes.

And that's when I realize that she thinks I'm trying, or will try, to force her. "I'm sorry," I whisper, removing my hand from her body and scooting back a bit. "I never want you to feel like I've forced you to do anything you don't want to do." I lean down and brush her lips with mine. "I love you."

Her smile is slightly shaky. "I love you, too." She slides her fingers down over my hand until she can link them with mine. "Thank you for being so patient with me."

"Of course." I rub my nose against hers. It's something my parents used to do and Paige's breath hitches in her throat when I do it.

It's times like this that I know she'd make a wonderful Wolf. But that isn't something I can ask of her just yet. And not because I'm unsure of how to tell her. Well, not _just_ because of that.

"How about this? Is this okay?" I cup her right breast in my left hand and squeeze slightly.

Her breath catches in the back of her throat again and she presses her breast up into my hand. "Yeah. Yeah, that's good." Her voice is all breathy like she's having trouble catching her breath. "Just stay on top of my clothes."

I duck my head to hide my smug smile because I can smell her arousal and, despite my inexperience, I know that my touch is turning her on. When she whimpers softly, I rub my thumb along the upper swell of her breast, following the line of her bra and feel her nipple harden beneath the layers of clothing.

I find myself wanting nothing more than to strip us both naked so I can explore her body and put some of the things Peter has taken such pleasure in telling me about into practice.

"Derek." Her voice holds a pleading note and when I look at her I find a dreamy look in her eyes.

Leaning down, I capture her mouth with mine and kiss her lazily but just as deeply as usual. I love the taste of her kisses and wonder, not for the first time, what the rest of her tastes like. While I have tasted her skin, it was just the skin of her ears and neck, keeping well above her waist per her request. 

Just a few months ago, Peter told me about pleasing a woman with my mouth. It didn't sound like something I'd enjoy doing, much less something a woman would ever let someone do to her, so I asked my friends about it. As usual, they were more than willing to educate me. The video they showed me of a man 'eating a woman out' proved that not only would a woman enjoy it, but so would the man. I'm still unsure but can't stop wondering just how it tastes, or more accurately how Paige tastes, and if Paige would enjoy it.

Deepening the kiss, I shift closer and run my hand from her breast to her hip where I wrap my fingers firmly over the swell and roll her towards me while pressing my thigh tightly against the place I so desperately want to put my mouth.

She gasps and tosses her head back, breaking the kiss and giving me access to her lovely throat. I trail my lips down the expanse of her neck, much like I do to the shell of her ear when she's pretending to not be affected by my presence while she's practicing. As I brush the barest of kisses to her beautiful skin, I have to actively fight to keep my fangs from dropping down so I can run them along her jaw.

As I gently kiss her neck and collarbone, she runs her fingers through my hair and begins to rock along my thigh. This is something that we've never done. Up until now, all of our make-out sessions have just been kissing with the occasional running of fingers through hair. But even so, I have gotten hard each time. It's difficult not to when she smells like a warm summer day and tastes like honey.

I usually keep my hips angled away so as not to spook her with my reaction but not this afternoon. No, with her riding my thigh, I press my hard-on against her and rock back and forth to meet her thrusts. Time has no meaning as we lie there on the ratty old blanket under the huge oak tree and do what feels so right, so _good_. Our breath is coming in huge gulping pants making it difficult to continue to kiss the way we want. So we settle for panting into each other's mouths.

Just when I think we're going to lie here like this for the rest of time, she stiffens with a gasp and the scent of her release floods my nostrils, pulling my own release from me with a pained groan.

Before either of us has really caught our breath, she pulls roughly back to stare into my eyes before jumping to her feet. She dusts off her clothes as she backs away and I can see the panic starting to build in her eyes.

"Paige-" I start but don't really know what to say.

Shaking her head while continuing to back away, she holds one hand out, palm toward me, like she expects me to charge her any moment now. "No, Derek. Don't-" She tries, and fails, to swallow a sob. "-just don't." And then she spins on her heel and is gone.

I lie there for several more minutes before climbing slowly to my feet and making my way home. Her reaction has me completely confused. Surely she knows that her orgasm is a natural reaction to what we were doing.

The more I think about it, though, the more I realize that she just might not know that. Her parents, from what she's told me, are very conservative and just might not agree with her right to know about the changes her body is going through as she grows into womanhood.

I come to a complete stop as a thought occurs to me: that just might have been her first orgasm. If she was raised the way I think she was, then she thinks anything more than kissing and light petting is wrong. My mind whirls at the implication of what that means.

She knows she was my first kiss and I know I'm not hers. In middle school, she went to a party, her first with boys and girls. They played Seven Minutes in Heaven and she ended up in the closet with a boy she liked. She assured me that all they did was press their closed mouths together but it counts as a first kiss.

While I was the first one to use my tongue while kissing her, the fact that I wasn't the very first hurts. I had always thought that my first kiss would be with someone who had also never been kissed before. But it is still exciting to know my tongue was the first to ever be in her mouth. And that I'm the first to kiss her neck and discover that she likes to have the patch of skin behind her right ear sucked on. Or that just barely brushing my lips along the curve of her ear can make her mess up her fingering.

For the rest of her life I will have the privilege of being the first to ever touch her breast; the first to give her an orgasm. And now I want to be the first to have sex with her even more.

I need to talk to someone about this; someone who is _not_ Peter or my useless friends so it'll have to be my mother. Even though this is not something I ever truly want to talk to her about, I shake myself out of my stupor and continue on my way home.

A simple flaring of my nostrils when I step through the front door tells me that Mom is home and most likely in her study so I head in that direction.

Mom is sitting at her desk, reading something on her computer. Despite not needing to, I knock gently on the open door and wait for her to look up.

"Derek!" Her smile tells me she's delighted I've sought her out.

"Do you have time to talk?" Tears well in her eyes and I feel a stab of guilt for making her think I don't need her counsel anymore.

"Of course!" She stands and beckons me in with a wave of her hand.

I close the door behind me and walk over to the little sitting area in the corner.

Her eyebrows climb her forehead. "It's one of those kinds of talks, huh?"

I nod and sink down on the sofa, tucking myself into one corner.

She approaches and cautiously sits on the other end, leaving enough space between us for me to not feel crowded. "You know you can tell me anything and I won't judge."

Nodding, I chew my thumbnail, a habit left over from childhood that only appears when I'm feeling anxious. "I've been seeing this girl from school, Paige."

Mom's smile is hesitantly optimistic. "Is she nice?"

I duck my head to try and hide the shy smile that crosses my face when I think about Paige. "Yes, she is."

"You really like her." Mom makes it a statement but I can't help but answer it.

"I love her," I say, raising my head and meeting Mom's eyes defiantly.

Mom's nostrils flare and her brows furrow as she scrutinizes my scent. After a very long moment, she gives a small smile and nods her head. "Yes, I believe you do." She shifts on the couch so that she's facing me more fully. "So what advice can I give you, my son?"

Heaving a huge sigh, I rub my hands down my jean clad thighs. "Well, something happened this afternoon that has left me confused." I can smell the sharp note of her surprise at my bringing this to her since I have refused to discuss sex with her in the past.

"We were in a clearing on the edge of our land, lying on a blanket under that old oak tree." I sneak a peek at her from under my lashes. Feeling encouraged by the open expression on her face, I clear my throat and continue.

"So far all we've done is kiss and run our fingers through each other's hair. But today-" I stop to take a deep breath. "-today...something felt different. I wanted to go further. No, I _needed_ to go further so I put my hand on her waist under her shirt."

No longer able to sit still, I jump up and pace the space on the other side of the coffee table. "She asked me to stop, so I did. I then asked if I could put my hand on her breast and she allowed it, so long as I stayed on top of her clothes." I risk a glance at Mom's face, fully expecting to see her distress over hearing that I'm becoming sexually active but only finding encouragement to continue.

With a deep breath I say the rest. "As we went back to kissing, I moved my hand to her hip which I used to pull her closer. I slipped my thigh between her legs, pressing up against her, and rocked against her hip. She began rocking against me, too and before I knew it we both came."

Mom coughs like she's trying to not laugh and I huff in annoyance at her finding my first sexual experience with another person funny. "Mom!" I turn my most annoyed glare in her direction.

As I watch, she struggles to swallow her amusement. "I'm sorry, Derek." She shakes herself and rolls her shoulders back and down. Then with a blink, she is once again my Alpha and mother. "I know you've been experimenting with masturbation and that you've had several orgasms, so what's the issue?"

Crossing my arms over my chest, I turn my back and stare down at the carpet. "I think it might have been her first."

"Hm," Mom hums. "What makes you think that?"

"I dunno. The fact that she jumped up like someone pinched her and ran off after?"

Mom's sigh is sad. "Then it very well likely was." I sense more than hear her get up and come to put one hand on my shoulder. "Does this distress you?"

I whirl around, my eyes wide in shock that she'd even ask that of me. "How can it not?! I love her! I'm going to marry her someday."

"Are you?"

Her question has me stepping back, my brows lowered in confusion. "Are you saying you'd refuse to let me take her as my Mate because she's Human?"

Mom sighs again and sits down on the arm of the nearest chair, taking my hands in hers. "No, my darling. I would never deny you your True Mate. But you're only fifteen. You haven't lived long enough yet to know if she's your Mate or not."

Ripping my hands from her grasp, I glare at her as my anger mounts. "You were my age when you chose Papa."

She nods slowly, sadly. "Yes, I was. But my wolf told me that he was ours." She stares into my eyes for several heartbeats. "What does your wolf have to say about her? Does he get excited when she's near? Do you crave her scent, her touch?"

Her questions cause me to stop and think. Is what I feel for Paige my wolf declaring Paige as ours, or is it just teenage hormones telling me that she's an attractive and fertile female ripe for me to mate with?

"This is not what I came here to talk about." I raise my chin in defiance.

Mom sighs again and for the first time, I can see how exhausted she is. My whole life she has been this strong and powerful Alpha; one that not a single person has ever stood up to, at least as far as I know. So it is a bit shocking to know that she's just as fragile as anyone else. "No, I don't suppose you did." She stands and returns to the couch, patting the seat next to her.

I slowly do as told and sit back down next to her. She turns to me again but doesn't try to take my hands. "But what you don't seem to understand, Derek, is that my questions have everything to do with what happened this afternoon. You need to know that while sex is quite enjoyable, even with someone who is not your True Mate, it is beyond description when you find the one person who makes your wolf dance with joy."

"I-I don't understand."

"I know you don't. I have been lax in educating you on this aspect of being a Wolf. Normally it would be something for your father to do, but…" Her voice trails off and the scent of tears has me glancing quickly in her direction. 

"And I know that Peter has been taking great joy in filling your head with half-truths and myths. And that your friends have been doing the same. I should have been better at developing a relationship with you that would allow me to discuss these things without the awkwardness that developed after you first started experimenting with physical pleasure."

She runs one hand through her hair and I'm surprised to see it shaking. "I love you and I have done you a great disservice in allowing you to grieve as long as I have. But I became an Alpha before I was truly ready for the responsibility." She turns to look at me. "I have done the best I know how and I have failed you."

"No, Mama, you haven't!" Tears are flowing down both our cheeks.

"I must have for you to be questioning this. I'm not saying you shouldn't be with Paige. I'm asking for you to not settle on her if she's not who you should be with. Your life will be nothing but misery. Just look at your aunts. Neither of them are happy but they refuse to admit it. I don't want that kind of life for you."

I nod. "I understand, Mom. But this still isn't what I'm seeking advice about." 

She nods and waves one hand, telling me to ask the actual question.

"How should I handle this when I see Paige again? Should I call her? Should I let her come to me? This was obviously her first time experiencing this kind of pleasure and I want to let her know that it's normal and natural."

"Hm," she hums again. "I never had this issue. I knew from when I was young that stimulating certain parts of my body would result in me having an orgasm and began experimenting with touching myself when I was about the same age you did." She stands and begins pacing much like I did. "I think you should do whatever it is you normally do. If you call her over the weekend, then call her. If you don't speak to her until you're at school next, then do that. If she doesn't seem receptive, then I suggest you ask her if she wants to talk about what happened. And be prepared for her to say no and to walk away if she says she no longer wants to see you."

My mom always gives excellent advice and I've never regretted taking it. She's right that I should keep things as normal as possible. But it's difficult for me. I find myself wanting to fix this; to take care of her. But I'm afraid that I can't fix this. The thought that she might never want to see me again kills me.

It's never bothered me to only see her during the school week but this time it does. Every time I close my eyes I can hear her gasps, smell her arousal, and see the look of pure bliss on her face when her world exploded when she brought herself to orgasm against my leg this afternoon.

But as much as I hate it, Mom has a point. If I want Paige to accept what we did as normal and a natural reaction to that, I shouldn't do anything I wouldn't normally do. But it's still difficult to sit still and so after I've finished my homework for the weekend, I slip out of the house and climb up into the treehouse Papa and I built when I was eight.

Mom finds me there a couple of hours later.

"Derek?" I turn my head to find her climbing up onto the branch the tree house rests on. "May I?" When I nod she sits on the edge of the platform. "I know you miss him."

I swallow a sigh and return my gaze to the few stars I can see through the branches of the tree. "You don't know anything."

"I _know_ you miss him." She lays down next to me. "I miss him, too." From the corner of my eye, I see her roll over to her side and prop herself up on one elbow. "But, Derek, missing your father is no excuse for how you've been acting and speaking to me."

She's right and I know it. But, dammit, she just doesn't understand! Paige is perfect for me. I don't care what my wolf thinks. Ever since I met Paige, I have wished I was Human. "You're not a guy, Mom. You'll never understand. And I can't explain it to you."

"Can you at least try?"

"I just know in my gut that Paige and I belong together."

"How does your wolf act when you're near her?"

I shrug. "He doesn't really do anything; just lies there acting bored."

"Then she's not for you." She sits up and tugs on my arm until I sit up too. "That is how I knew your father was who I belonged with. My wolf howled and barked and danced with joy when I first saw him. She also spoke for the first and only time. She told me he was my Mate."

I blink at her. "You never told me that. Papa didn't even tell me that."

"Because you never wanted to hear the 'gross romance parts' of our story. Your sisters know about it and fully expect to feel that when they meet their Mates."

Ducking my head, I chew on my lower lip. "But I love her!"

With a gentle hand to my chin, she gets me to raise my head. "I know you think you do." She puts one hand up when I open my mouth to dispute her claim. "By that, I mean that I know you think you're in love with her. I certainly know that people of all ages can feel love. But I need you to closely examine your feelings for this girl. Once you do that, I think you'll find that it's just what the Humans call puppy love." A tear slips from one eye and she wipes it away with her thumb. "If you were Human, you'd have the chance to see if it could grow into full love but as a Wolf-" She gives a one shouldered shrug. "-you don't have that luxury." Her smile is soft and sad. "I love you, Derek." She presses her lips to my forehead and then climbs down the tree. 

"Don't stay out here too long."

I lie back down and stare up at the stars, wishing for all that I'm worth that my father was still alive. I truly need the perspective of a male Werewolf and there is no way in fucking hell I'm going to Peter. 

It takes several more hours before I come to a solid decision. I'm not totally happy with it but I've taken everything my mother has told me today as well as everything I've ever overheard from other people so it is the best decision I can come to at this moment in my life.

And so it is that having made my decision, I slip from the treehouse and back into my bed just as the sun peeks over the horizon.

Monday morning finds me ignoring my friends in order to head directly to Paige's locker.

"Paige," I whisper her name, standing to the side where she can see me around the open door of her locker. She ignores me and continues exchanging the books in her backpack for ones from her locker. "Paige, please talk to me. What we did Friday isn't a bad thing. In fact, it's very natural and normal. There is absolutely nothing wrong with what we did."

She slams her locker closed and turns the full force of her glare on me. "Except I feel dirty. My parents have told me that it's wrong until I'm married." She chokes back a sob and her anguish hits me full in the face. It's not something I expected to encounter after making out with my girlfriend.

"Paige," I start but she throws one hand up in my face.

"You made me a cheater, Derek. And that is not who I want to be." She turns on her heel and marches away.

I'm left gaping at her retreating back. How can you cheat on someone you've yet to meet?

For the rest of the day, and on into the rest of the week, Paige makes a point to not be anywhere that I am. If I enter a room, she gets up and leaves; easy to do since we don't have any classes together. But we do have lunch at the same time and I take a seat at a table close enough to watch her but far enough that she doesn't feel threatened.

"Why does she eat alone?" Peter slides onto the bench opposite me and steals a fry.

Swallowing a sigh, I turn my gaze from Paige to glare at him. "What are you doing here?" I growl a little deep in my throat hoping he'll get the hint that he's not welcome and will leave me alone.

And of course he doesn't take the hint. "I'm looking out for my favorite nephew, making sure no one has a crossbow aimed at your throat."

"I'm your only nephew. And I could get you banned from school grounds. You know that, right?" I return to watching Paige studying while ignoring her lunch tray.

"No one would ban me from anywhere. I'm too good looking." He steals another fry. "Doesn't she have any friends?" 

"A few, but she likes to study during lunch. And I kind of think she just doesn't like my friends." _That and she hasn't let me come near her since I gave her her first fucking orgasm last week,_ I think but don't dare say. Not to him at any rate. I'm not so far gone that I would allow Peter to have that kind of knowledge about me.

"No one should like your friends. They're a bunch of hormonal half-wits." Well, he's not wrong. "But that one over there-" He points at Paige with his thumb. "-she's perfect for you. And perfect combinations are rare in an imperfect world." He steals yet another fry. "It would worry me too, though. I'd probably be thinking about it all the time."

That has me frowning at him. "Thinking about what?" 

"Her finding out. You've thought that through, right?" He raises his brows at me. "You know it always happens. One minute you're in this blissful teen romance, and next, she sees fangs, glowing eyes, claws."

"She doesn't have to find out." I know I'm being delusional but I don't care. It's nice here in my little world of make believe.

"But they always do...especially when they're perfect for you." He pauses and looks over at her again. "There's really only one way to make sure you'll always be together. Turn her."

I turn my head sharply to frown at him. He can't possibly be serious, can he? Before I can ask, the bell rings and, with a smirk and a waggle of his eyebrows, he gets up and saunters away.

"I have the perfect idea." Peter corners me at the house later that night.

"Go away." I don't have time for him. I need to finish cleaning up from dinner so I can get back to brooding about Paige.

"Laura told you about the packs being here, right? There are more Alphas than I've ever seen in one place. Your mother would never do it. And these packs won't be here much longer. The time to do it is now. One little bite, and she never gets sick again. She stays younger, more beautiful. Think how she'll be able to protect herself. Derek… The bite is a gift." Peter sounds like he truly believes what he's saying. 

But I can't agree to this. Paige has made it clear that she doesn't want anything to do with me anymore and I need to abide by her wishes. I shake my head and turn back to the sink full of dishes, hoping he'll go away and let this drop.

A few days later, I find Peter carrying Paige into the root cellar. She has black blood running from her eyes, ears, and nose. "What's happening to her?" I demand to Peter's retreating back. "Peter!" He doesn't stop, just keeps running away.

"Derek." Paige's voice is soft and full of pain.

I approach slowly and pick her up in my arms, cradling her in my lap. "I'm sorry." A sob catches in the back of my throat.

"I knew," She whispers.

"What do you mean?" I gently brush the hair from her face.

"Right after I told you my name, I think I knew. I've seen things in this town before, things no one really could explain. And then there's the way that you talk - how you say things, like how you'd catch a scent. And I know you can hear things, things that no one else can hear. I knew."

"And you still liked me?" Is it possible? If given the choice would she have accepted the bite?

"I loved you." Her words have tears running down my face. She loves me despite my being a Wolf.

"Stay," I whisper. _Please, let her survive this._

"I'm gonna die, aren't I? I can't." She has to stop to catch her breath. "I can't take it anymore." She looks up at me, begging with her eyes. "Derek, I can't. Please. Please." Does she truly know what she's asking me to do?

I press a kiss to her forehead and shift just enough for my claws to come out. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," I murmur over and over against her hair even as the beast takes a sick kind of thrill in burying our claws in her gut.

The howl that is ripped from my throat isn't nearly as mournful as it should be but hopefully, Mom will still hear the pain within it.

"Derek." Mom finds me later, huddled in the spot where I killed the first woman I will ever love.

"I did something...something terrible." I bury my face in my upraised knees.

"I know." Of course, she does. She's the Alpha of an old and powerful Pack.

"My eyes… They're different." 

She tucks one hand under my chin and lifts my head just as gently as she did that night two weeks ago when we had our talk in the treehouse. With a slight squeeze, she gets me to open my eyes and I flash my newly blue eyes at her. Blue eyes that for the rest of my life will mark me as a murderer. But since that is what I am, I guess it's only fitting.

"Different, but still beautiful...just like the rest of you." How can she say that? The beast within me took a sick kind of pleasure in killing Paige.

I guess his indifference was just a rouse; something to keep my guard down. It's obvious he hated Paige and had just been biding his time until he could get rid of her.

"I-I killed...her, Mama." A sob is torn from my throat. "I killed the girl I love."

"Oh, my beautiful boy." Mom wraps her arms around my shoulders and I collapse in her embrace, sobbing out all my grief and pain on her wide, capable shoulder.


	4. Age 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this didn't take me nearly as long as I thought it would, but it did take longer than I wanted. Sorry about that.
> 
> I'm sure you noticed that I changed the chapter number from four to five. This part got to be very long, which surprised me as it mostly takes place over just a few months. Plus, I really like how it ends; a right nice cliff hanger, I think.
> 
> I added the underage consensual tag because teenaged Derek has sex with a girl his own age. 
> 
> Tomorrow is a holiday here in the US, so I plan to spend it working on part five. I was going to wait and post both parts together but decided I didn't want to wait.
> 
> I really like this part and hope you will too.

I never should have allowed myself to love her. Being with me got her killed. How could Peter force me to do that? Why would he ask Ennis to bite her? Why can't he just leave me the fuck alone?

It takes almost a week for her body to be found and by then animals have ravaged it so much that it's impossible to see the puncture wounds my claws left in her belly. The official cause of death is an animal attack. Which isn't wrong, exactly. I am an animal and I let the one that lives inside me break her back.

I become even more withdrawn from the Pack and my friends. And since my friends didn't even know that she and I were dating, they don't understand why I'm mourning so much for a girl I had a crush on. Of course, none of them have ever felt more than lust for a girl so there's no way they'd understand. 

Paige's parents are so distraught that they decide to move away. I try to apologize at Paige's funeral but the words stick in my throat and I just barely manage to get out a choked off 'I'm sorry' before turning and fleeing. I want to tell them the truth but know that would not make anyone feel any better, not even me. Besides, they didn't know that Paige and I even knew each other much less that we were dating so how would I explain all that?

Mom allows me to grieve until Christmas and then puts her foot down.

"Enough, Derek. I understand that her death was difficult for you and you have every right to grieve, but enough is enough. I will no longer tolerate this attitude you have developed. Do you understand me? I am not only your mother but also your Alpha and the way you have been treating me and the tone you've been using when speaking is beyond disrespectful. And it ends. Today!" Her eyes flash red causing me to whimper low in my throat and tilt my head, baring my neck.

"Yes, Alpha." My eyes flash before I drop them to the floor.

Mom sighs deeply then pulls me into a hug. "I love you, Derek. I hope you know just how much." With a press of her lips to my temple, she turns and walks away.

"You're an idiot. You know that, right?" Laura steps into view, proving that she's been eavesdropping.

"Shut up, Laura." I try to brush past her but she holds her ground.

"I cannot believe you had Peter ask Ennis to bite her."

I narrow my eyes on her face. "What did you just say?"

She tosses her hair and sticks her nose in the air. "I know why Paige died. You couldn't bear the thought of Mom not accepting her, so you had Peter ask Ennis to bite her." Her eyes widen when I growl deep in my throat. "You mean it's not true?" She presses a hand to the base of her throat and gives a fake gasp of outrage. "Are you saying Peter _lied_!?" Taking a step closer, she lowers her voice. "But Wolves can't lie!"

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up, Laura!" I step closer myself until our noses are almost touching. "You don't know shit!"

A smirk twists her lips. "I know you're the one who killed her. Even if you aren't the one who disposed of her body. I know she's dead because of you." She pokes me in the chest with one claw-tipped finger.

I manage to grab it before she can pull it back and twist and squeeze, pulling a pained gasp from her. "You. Don't. Know. Shit! So I'd stop talking if I were you." Releasing her finger with enough of a shove to force her back a step, I turn and march from the house.

What I wouldn't give to have somewhere else to go. But my friends and I don't spend time at each other's homes. So I end up roaming the woods until my stomach reminds me I still need to eat.

Mom meets me at the backdoor. "I was getting worried."

"Sure you were," I mutter, dodging her outstretched hand.

The sharp scent of her disappointment has me feeling guilty but I shove it away. I wish I could deny my inner beast as easily as I can refuse to let her comfort me, but I can't. Oh, how I wish I wasn't a Wolf!

Dinner is eaten in almost complete silence. Cora and Peter try to get the conversation going but both give up after only getting grunts and one-word answers from Mom, Laura, and I. Despite that though, Peter keeps giving me looks and smirking at me. I just know he wants to rub my nose in everything. It just makes me hate him even more.

Cora tries to help me clean up but I just push her from the kitchen. And then regret it when Peter comes sauntering in, the air thick with the acrid scent of his over-inflated ego.

"So, nephew," he purrs, picking up a dish from the drying rack and wiping it down with a dishtowel. "You're still mourning her." He tsks his tongue. "I heard your mother ordered you to let it go."

"You heard wrong, uncle." I snatch the towel from his hands and use it to dry the last dish. "And now, if you'll excuse me, I still have homework."

"During Christmas vacation?"

I just flip him off over my shoulder and continue on my way to my bedroom.

Returning to school is surreal. It's like everyone has forgotten all about Paige and is only interested in what their friends did over the holiday and what they got for Christmas. And of course, my friends are exactly the same with the added bonus of trying to get me to hook up with someone.

"C'mon, D!" Brad slaps me on the back a couple of weeks after school starts back from Christmas break. "I know you had a thing for Paige but she's not coming back. It's time to move on, man!"

He turns to lean against the locker next to mine, scanning the crowds of students milling about the hall. I can tell when he finds a girl he finds attractive; the scent of his arousal has me fighting the urge to sneeze.

"Hey, Greg!" He reaches out and snags the sleeve of one of our other friends as he passes us. "Help me convince Hale, here, to ask out Emily Crawford."

"'Never say never' Emily?" Greg cackles. "Oh, yeah, man!" He also slaps me on the back. "You should totally hit that! I hear she's an awesome fuck!"

I grit my teeth to hear how they talk about this girl. It's a well-known secret that Emily Crawford will sleep with anyone who asks. But I don't plan on being one. Slamming my locker closed, I turn to face the opposite row of lockers and see Emily putting on lipstick in the mirror on the inside of her locker door.

Emily is very pretty. And Paige's complete opposite. Emily is blonde while Paige was a brunette. Paige was several inches shorter than me but Emily is the same height as me. Paige had a perfect hourglass figure but Emily has a more boyish figure. Emily is very athletic while Paige was more of an intellectual. Emily also has impossibly long legs; the kind that my friends always talk about having wrapped around their waists. Paige had an inner beauty that shone from her every pore. That isn't to say that Emily isn't also pretty, just that Paige's outer beauty was enhanced by her inner beauty. I don't know Emily enough to know if she's a good person. Of course, I didn't know Paige all that well, at first, but something about Paige called to me. She called to the part of me that hates being a Wolf in a Pack that hates me.

"Go on!" Greg and Brad both push me away from the wall, causing me to stumble my way across the hall.

I manage to catch myself just before bumping into Emily. "Uh, hi," I say when she looks up, running one hand over my hair.

She smiles at me. "Hi. Are you okay?" Putting one hand on my arm, she throws a look across the hall to where my friends aren't even trying to pretend they're not interested in what we're saying.

"Yeah." I turn to glare at them, threatening dire consequences with my eyes. They just grin and give me a thumbs up. "Sorry about that. They're idiots."

She chuckles. "I thought they were your friends?"

I shrug. "Maybe? Depends."

"On?"

Shuffling nervously on my feet, I suck on my lower lip. "On if you'll go out with me on Friday." I lower my head and glance up before saying in a rush. "Please feel free to say no. In fact, I'm just gonna go tell them you said no."

Before I can take even one step, she pulls a pen out of her bag, picks up my right hand, and writes a number on my palm. "I'm not allowed to go out but call me. I _can_ have boys over." She then kisses the tip of one finger before pressing it to the tip of my nose. "I'll be waiting by the phone, Derek."

I'm not sure how long I stand there staring down at her phone number before I realize that not only has she walked away, but she called me by name; a name I did not give her.

When I get home from school, I head to my mom's office. "Mom?" She's bent over some papers on her desk but she hums softly and I take that as my cue to continue. "A friend asked me over for dinner Friday. Can I go?"

Her head snaps up. I've never asked to go over to a friend's house because my control isn't all that good and I've always been afraid I'll shift when I shouldn't.

"Who is this friend? Will their parents be home? I have to meet them, you know."

"God, Mom. I'm sixteen!"

"It's the rule, Derek. I had to meet the parents of every friend whose house Laura spent time at until she left for college. There are not different rules for you just because you're a boy." She raises one brow. "So?"

I sigh deeply and roll my eyes. "Her name is Emily. Since she _invited me for dinner_ , I'd say her parents will be home. I guess you can embarrass me for life and walk me to the door when you drop me off." Her eyes flash red, telling me she heard the emphasis I put on part of my statement but is choosing to ignore it.

"Give me her number. I'll call and make sure they're aware she invited you." She makes a 'gimme' motion with one hand so I step closer and hold my hand out. Mom stares down at my palm for a long moment before I see the corners of her lips twitch. "How long have you had that on your palm?"

"Since just before third period. So glad today wasn't a gym day."

"And I bet you have to pee something fierce."

"Yeah. Can you copy it down so I can go, please?"

"Sure." She begins, slowly, looking for paper and a pen.

"Mom!" I have never had to pee so badly before in my life.

She blinks up innocently at me. "What?" I waggle my hand in her face. "Oh, right!" She gives in and giggles softly. "Here we are." Thank God she doesn't take her time copying the number. 

Before she even has time to replace the cap on the pen, I'm sprinting out of her office and into the half bath under the stairs. That necessity taken care of, I pull out my phone and enter Emily's number before washing my hands; scrubbing to get rid of the writing.

When I call Emily after dinner and apologize for my mom, she says it's not a big deal. She explains that she has overly protective parents herself because she was a late-in-life baby for both of them. 

Her parents had been married before, both marriages ended in divorce, and her half brothers and sister are all now in their thirties. They all thought that her mother was going through menopause until she went for her yearly visit and the doctor announced that she was nearly four months pregnant. Due to that, she's not allowed to go out on dates but she can invite boys over to the house. She promises that it won't be awkward or anything because despite how overprotective they are, they give her lots of privacy.

The rest of that week my friends make me wonder why I'm still friends with them. They take every opportunity to tease me about going out with Emily, never mind that they urged me to ask her out.

Finally, Friday arrives. I hurry home after school so I can do my homework before going to Emily's. 

I was feeling good about everything because, somehow, Peter had managed to not find out about my 'date'. But, of course, I should have known better. Peter always finds out things that are none of his business; especially the things that are embarrassing or humiliating.

"So, nephew," he purrs in that sickly sweet voice of his that always has me fighting to not throw up. "I heard you're going on your first date tonight." He slides into the chair on the other side of the table from me and grabs at my pencil.

I snatch it back, leaving a smudge mark down the page. "What's it to you?"

He shrugs and picks up my paper. "Glad to see you're not repeating the mistakes you made with… What was her name? Oh, yes! _Paige_." The smile he throws my way has a shiver of fear tripping down my spine.

"Do not say her name, ever again. Do you hear me, _uncle_?" I grab my homework back from him and return my attention to it.

My ignoring him is a calculated risk, Peter hates being ignored, but it is one that I am more than willing to make. I'd do almost anything to get him to leave me the fuck alone.

"Touchy, touchy!" he tsks. "Just don't kill this one, huh?" He ruffles my hair on his way out of the kitchen.

The beast wants to go after him and teach him to stay away but I know that I would not be the victor of that fight.

A couple of hours later, I'm in the car with Mom, headed to Emily's house.

"I don't need to remind you to mind your manners, do I?"

I just barely refrain from rolling my eyes. "No, ma'am."

"Good." From the corner of my eye, I see her turn to look at me at a red light. "Take at least one spoonful of everything on the table."

"Mom!" I flop my head back against the headrest. "Emily said we're having pizza."

"Oh." She returns her gaze to the road, slowly easing through the intersection when the light turns green. "Then, don't go back for seconds until everyone has had a slice."

"Oh. My. God, Mom!" I turn in my seat and glare at her. "I know how to behave in public!"

"Yeah, but you've never been to a friend's house. I just want to make sure."

With a heavy put upon sigh, I roll my head on my neck. "You taught me how to behave. Please trust me when I say that I will be fine!"

Pulling up in front of Emily's house she says my name but doesn't finish her sentence; just sighs and turns the car off before getting out. I follow her up the walk and wait a step behind her and to her right on the tiny little porch.

An older woman who looks a lot like Emily opens the door. "You must be Mrs. Hale and Derek!" She steps back and ushers us in with a sweep of one arm. "Welcome! I'm Jane and this is my husband, Mark." She indicates a distinguished-looking man with a head full of silver hair who has stepped out from what must be the kitchen.

"Thank you. I'm Talia." Mom steps forward and shakes both their hands. "I do apologize for any inconvenience but Derek hasn't ever been out with a girl before and…" She trails off when I growl softly in the back of my throat.

Jane waves one hand. "Not a problem! Emily is our baby and the one time we allowed a boy to take her out it didn't end well. We decided that for her protection, we'd let the boys come here where we can keep an eye on them."

"Excellent idea."

"Derek!" Emily comes trotting down the stairs and throws her arms around my neck. "C'mon. I'll show you around." Grabbing my hand, she pulls me further into the house.

"Sorry about that," she whispers when we're out of sight of our parents. "I tried to get to the door before my mom."

"It's okay. My mom seems to have forgotten that I know how to behave in public."

She covers her mouth with one hand to stifle a giggle. "Once she's gone we'll go down to the basement."

My eyebrows climb my forehead. "We won't be up here where your parents can see us?"

"No. But don't worry the door sticks so we'll have plenty of warning before one of them comes down the stairs."

"Your dad hasn't tried to fix it? I mean, it seems odd that he allows it since it gives you time to stop doing whatever you're doing."

She giggles again. "Every time he fixes it, I find a way to make it stick again. He's finally given up on it. Besides,-" She lowers her head and looks up at me through her lashes while licking her bottom lip. "-I'm a good girl."

Nodding my head, I swallow the lump that has formed in my throat and order my erection to go away for now.

"Derek?" Mom calls, walking around the corner. The look she gives me tells me she knows that I'm aroused and we _will_ be talking about it later. "I'm going now. I'll be back at 10. Please be ready."

"Yes, ma'am." I give her my best 'trust me, I'm a good kid' smile. The snort this earns me tells me she's not buying it for a second.

"Bye, Mrs. Hale." Emily waves, linking the fingers of her other hand with mine.

"Bye." Mom gives her a once over before giving me a look that I refuse to define. "It was nice to meet you all." And with that, she leaves the house.

"I was beginning to think she'd never leave!" Emily begins pulling me toward a door on the back wall of the kitchen. "Call us when the pizza's ready."

We've just gotten settled when the door pops open and her mother calls down that the pizza is ready. Back up in the kitchen, I see that there are five very large homemade pizzas sitting on the center island.

"I hope you're a carnivore, Derek," her dad says, handing me a plate.

"Uh, yes, sir. I eat meat."

"Good." He grins at me and takes a slice from each pie.

The choices are almost identical to what my own family gets: pepperoni, beef, chicken, ham, and bacon. Only one pie has only one topping (pepperoni), while the others have a combination of all five types of meat.

"Since I wasn't sure what you like on your pizza, and most people like pepperoni, I had Dad do one with just pepperoni."

"That's fine." I smile at her. "When we order pizza we get every meat topping available."

"On one pizza?"

"Oh, no. I come from a large family so we always order several."

"Please, Derek, help yourself. And don't worry about taking too much. I remember when my boys were your age." Her mother smiles at me and looks like she wants to pat my cheek but doesn't since she doesn't know me that well.

"Thank you, Mrs. Crawford."

"Please, call me Jane."

"Okay… Jane."

"C'mon." Emily picks up two soda cans, links her arm through mine, and heads back down to the basement.

We talk while we eat and ignore whatever movie is playing on the TV.

"Um," I say, setting my empty plate on the coffee table. "Monday, after I asked you out, you called me by name but I never introduced myself."

"I know." She wipes her mouth and hands on her napkin. "All the girls, well at least the straight ones, know who you are. Most of us have a crush on you."

"How…" I blink at her, my brain short-circuiting.

"Because you're so cute." She leans over and presses her lips to my cheek. "But I know you because I was friends with Paige. She talked about you a lot."

"Oh." And now I feel like I'm cheating on Paige.

"Please don't feel bad for being here. She wouldn't want you to never date anyone else."

"I suppose."

"I'm glad you asked me out." She takes a sip from her soda.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Paige wouldn't tell me much but I did get her to tell me that you're a great kisser. Of course, she didn't have much of a frame of reference, but she did really enjoy your kisses."

"I did, too."

"Mm," Emily hums, snuggling closer. "She had asked my opinion about sleeping with you."

My brows lower in a frown. Paige had said repeatedly that that was something she was saving for marriage. "She did?"

"Mmhm. I told her that if she truly loved you and was positive that you truly loved her, then she should have sex with you. Of course, I was speaking from my own experience, so."

"What?" Am I misunderstanding? Did she just say that she's a virgin?

"Yeah, I've never had sex, either."

"But, your reputation…"

She sighs and pulls away. "I know. I chose to embrace it."

"I don't understand."

"Freshman year, I went out with Chad Smith." Oh! Now what her mother said earlier makes sense.

Or at least it's starting to because I can guess where this story is going. "We went driving and then parked on one of the hills. He tried to get me to have sex. I slapped his face and demanded he take me home." Nope, not what I thought she was going to say.

"I was surprised when he did. Without arguing." She fidgets a bit and I fight the urge to reach out to touch her.

"That Monday, people were whispering that I had let him. Girls started ignoring me while boys were all over me. It was my idea for my dates to come over here. I wanted to make sure I could get them to stop if need be.

"The door sticking is actually a new thing. For you. Because I like you and I am tired of being called a slut despite being a virgin."

"But weren't you worried that one of the boys would go back to school and call you a tease?"

She laughs. "And admit they were the one I said no to?"

"I guess not."

"Mm, of course not." She climbs into my lap and presses her breasts into my chest. "So? How about we lose our virginity to each other?"

"What? Here? Now?" My voice most definitely _did not_ just squeak.

"Yes," she hisses the word against my lips before stealing my breath in the best kiss I've ever had.

Instinct takes over and I slip my hands under her shirt, slowly pulling it up and off. She whines in protest at having to give up my lips for that brief second but purrs in happiness when I lick my way back into her mouth.

She threads her fingers through my hair and grinds down on my lap. I have to ball my hands into fists to keep from scratching her with my claws and pull my mouth from hers when my fangs descend. 

_Not now!_ I growl at the beast. _Please go back to sleep!_ But he has learned that the only way to get me to listen is to force me to shift. I fight him for several long moments before he gives in with a snarl.

I trail my lips down her throat to her collarbone where I take tiny little bites to the hollow at the base. When I press kisses to her sternum, she reaches behind herself and unhooks her bra, letting it fall from her arms to the couch next to us. Cupping her breasts, I finally get to put some of Peter's tips to use and suckle her nipples. She arches her back and gasps, clutching my hair tight.

"D-er-ek!" She moans, grinding down harder.

Suddenly the room is flooded with the scent of her release and she shudders in my arms. The beast grumbles and turns his back while the Human side of me smirks. I was able to bring her to climax just by sucking her tits. 

"Derek, please," she begs, tugging on the back of my shirt.

I release her nipple long enough for her to pull it off over my head and drop it on top of her bra. She pushes me back and licks her bottom lip while looking at my naked torso. I know I don't have much muscle mass but she must like what I do have because her pupils are blown wide with her arousal when she raises her gaze back to mine.

Cupping her breasts again, I flick my thumbnails against her nipples. She throws her head back and moans low in her throat. The moan turns into a soft wail when I pinch and twist her nipples. I never thought I'd ever be grateful to Peter for the inappropriate things he has told me over the years, but here I am using some of the things he has told me to do.

Emily runs her hands down my chest to the fly of my jeans where she makes quick work of undoing my belt before popping the button and lowering the zipper. I toe off my shoes and socks and turn us to lay her on the couch before standing and removing my jeans and underwear. Reaching for the waist of her shorts, I silently ask for permission, pulling her shorts and panties down and off when she nods.

Before I join her on the couch, I pull out the condom that Peter insisted I carry in my wallet. And yet again, I find myself hating that I have to thank his inability to leave me alone.

Rolling the condom on, I once again look her in the eyes and ask for permission. This time, she wraps her legs around my waist and pulls me down on top of her. The force of her pull has the tip of my cock buried in her already.

I have to stop for a moment. Even through the latex surrounding my dick, I can feel her moist heat. It is incredible and makes me wonder if her mouth will feel the same.

"C'mon, Derek," she mutters in my ear, her breath hot against my skin. "Fuck me." She gives another tug with her legs and I find myself sinking even further into her.

A groan is pulled from deep within me at the image my imagination supplies me with. And now I find myself thankful to my friends for showing me porn.

Raising up onto my elbows, I stare down at her. There is color high on her cheeks and her pupils are so wide, that I can barely see what color her eyes are. She lightly runs the tips of her fingers down my back, pulling a shiver from me. When she reaches my ass, she grabs both cheeks and uses them to force me into her even further.

She tips her head back and moans, her pussy clenching around me. I lean down and nibble on her ear lobe while pulling out a little before slowly sliding back in.

"Oh," she moans again and shifts her legs higher on my waist. "Harder, Derek. Fuck me harder."

I raise up on my hands and begin to slowly thrust my hips. She whines. "No! Please! Need it harder!"

"As you wish." I lean down and bite her upper lip gently before pulling almost all the way out and slamming back in so hard her teeth clack closed.

"Yes!" Her nails dig into the skin of my back but it just spurs me to fuck her harder and harder until the sound of our skin slapping together is obscene in the small room.

After what feels like forever, but is probably more like ten minutes, she stiffens under me and I smell her release. It triggers my own and with a grunt I empty my balls into the condom, my hips twitching every few seconds until finally my arms give out and I collapse face first on top of her.

I must pass out because the next thing I'm aware of is her pressing tiny biting kisses to my shoulder. With a chuckle, I lift my head and grin down at her. She returns my grin, her eyes heavy-lidded with satisfaction.

"Not sure what I was expecting, but I do know it wasn't that!" I say, gripping the base of my dick to make sure the condom doesn't slip off as I pull out.

"Mm," she hums, stretching sensually. "It was much better than I had been led to believe a first time would be."

I can't resist placing a kiss to the damp curls that hide her clit, deciding that next time I will taste her there. "Thank you."

She threads the fingers of one hand through my hair and tugs until I lean over her. "No, _thank you_." She uses her grip on my hair to pull me down so she can press a chaste kiss to my lips.

Just as I decide to deepen it, we hear the door at the top of the stairs pop open. "Derek?" Her father calls, the stairs creaking under his weight.

"Shit," we both mutter and begin grabbing clothes. 

I carry mine into the bathroom under the stairs, shutting the door just as her father steps into the room.

 _"Where's Derek?"_ It sounds like her father is standing right outside the bathroom door. I find myself thanking my lucky stars that her father isn't a Were and can't hear me quickly pulling on my clothes.

_"In the bathroom. Why?"_

_"It's almost 10. His mother will be here soon."_

I flush the toilet, wash my hands, and walk back out into the room.

"Okay. I guess I'll wait for her out front?"

"No, you can sit on the couch in the living room. No sense in having you sit in the dark by yourself."

Emily shuts off the TV and we both pick up our plates and trash before following her father back upstairs.

Mom's nostrils flare when I get in the car and her eyes flash. "We will be talking about this when we get home."

Knowing that arguing will just make everything worse, I nod and say, "Yes, ma'am."

The anger and disappointment pouring off my mother has me fighting tears. The anger I can deal with; it's the disappointment that hurts. I never want to disappoint her and by having sex with Emily, that is what I've done. That's not to say she expects me to wait until I've Mated, just that she will see it as me disrespecting Emily's parents by having sex with their daughter in their house.

When we arrive at the house, she shuts off the engine and grips the steering wheel so tight her knuckles turn white. "How could you, Derek?" Her voice is low and thick with tears. "They invited you into their home, fed you, and how do you repay them? By fucking their daughter!?"

"I didn't go over there expecting for it to happen! We just started kissing and before I knew it we were naked."

"Did you have a condom?"

"Yeah." I lower my head to stare at my hands. "Peter gave me one when I turned fourteen."

"He what!?" She throws a hand in the air when I open my mouth to reply. "Never mind. I'll deal with that, and him, later." I can hear her grinding her teeth before she asks, "Where were her parents while you were fucking her?"

"Upstairs."

"What? I thought the point of you going over there was so they could keep an eye on you."

I shrug. "We went to the basement and they sat in the living room."

"Do you know why I'm disappointed, Derek?" She turns her head to look at me. I shake my head. "I'm disappointed because I thought I had raised you better. I thought I had taught you to respect women."

Anger flares in my breast and my eyes flash. "I do respect women! I never pushed Paige for more than she was willing to give. And I did not go to Emily's expecting to have sex with her. I just wanted to get to know her."

"Laura told me what the kids at school call her. I never thought…" She trails off and shakes her head.

"I swear, Mom! I did not ask her out with the intention of sleeping with her. Yes, Brad and Greg urged me to ask her out because of her rep but I didn't do it for any reason other than to get them to leave me alone." I rub my hands over my face. "I was surprised when she said yes. Oh, I know." I frown at Mom when she opens her mouth to remind me of Emily's reputation. "I still expected her to say she was busy. And when I got to her house, I was prepared to tell _her_ no."

"So what happened?"

I sigh and lean back in my seat, turning my head to look out the passenger window. "She told me she has a crush on me and then she kissed me." I shrug. 

"We started making out and clothes started coming off." I turn my head to look at her. "By the time we were completely naked I had forgotten about my intention of not sleeping with her." I chew on my lower lip. "I'm sorry I disappointed you, Mama. But I'm not sorry I had sex with her."

Mom melts. "Oh, Derek." Reaching out, she pulls me to her and rubs my back. "I had hoped that your first time would be with your Mate. Even though I know it was an unrealistic expectation.

"Yeah, well, I don't think I want a Mate."

She swallows a laugh. "You have no say in that, darling boy." With a kiss to the top of my head, she pushes me away. "Go get ready for bed. We'll talk more in the morning."

The sound of Mom and Peter shouting at each other and then a door slamming somewhere in the house wakes me the next morning. Laura and Cora are sitting on their bed staring at me.

"What?" I ask around a yawn, sitting up.

"Mom and Peter have been arguing for over an hour," Cora says, her voice trembling a little with worry.

"What did you do, Derek?" Laura asks, one brow raised in a perfect imitation of Mom.

"Who says I did anything?"

"Oh, please. Mom would only threaten to ban Peter if he talked you into doing something." Laura crosses her arms over her chest. "So, spill. What did you do?"

"Girls," Mom enters the room, a scowl firmly in place on her beautiful features. "Give your brother and me some privacy."

Cora winces and kisses my cheek before leaving the room while Laura just smirks at me. "This room is too crowded anyway."

"Laura Marie! That is no way for an Alpha to speak." She points at the open door. "Close it behind you and do not stand around trying to listen. Am I clear?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Mom sits down on the side of Laura and Cora's bed and waits for the door to close.

"Peter will be leaving town for a while." A huge weight lifts from my chest. "But that doesn't excuse what you did."

"I know, Mom. But we discussed that last night."

"So we did. But we didn't discuss punishment."

"Let me guess: grounded?"

"Oh, yeah. Until the end of the school year."

"But that means I'll miss Spring Break! Brad and Greg and I were going to spend the week camping in the preserve."

She shrugs. "Too bad. I also called her parents."

"You what!?"

"I didn't tell them you two had sex. Just that I don't think it's a good idea for you to go over there again."

"You scolded them about their lack of supervision, didn't you?"

"I did. I...lied and said I saw a hickey on your neck. They said they would talk to Emily about it and agreed that they have become lax when it comes to letting Emily have boys over."

"Just how long will Peter be gone?"

"I don't know yet." She takes a deep breath and releases it slowly. "He crossed the line this time."

"By giving me a condom?"

"Laura told me her friends have seen him around the school. He thought that by talking to you there, he could get around my order to leave you alone." Her expression turns to stone. "Why didn't _you_ tell me he had been approaching you there?"

I shrug. "Didn't want to make a tense situation any worse, I guess."

"Well, on top of being grounded, you're on yard duty."

"Mom!" 

Yard duty is the one chore that no one likes because it involves being outside for most of the day pulling weeds, mowing the grass, tending the flowers that grow around the front of the house, and other things like that. _I_ hate it because it was what I used to do with my dad on weekends. It was our special time where we could bond.

One of her brows climbs her forehead causing me to grumble low under my breath. "Now, get up. Breakfast is ready and then you have work to do."

For the rest of the day, I'm outside working in the hot sun. I'm so tired at the end of the day, I almost fall asleep during dinner. When I head to bed, I pray that Mom won't have me working in the yard on Sunday, too, but my prayer goes unanswered and she wakes me up just after sunrise. And that's when I realize that the only reprieve I'm going to get from yard work is during the week because of school and homework.

Monday morning, I approach Emily at her locker. She turns to me, one brow raised. "I happen to know I _did not_ leave a hickey."

I sigh and lean one shoulder against the locker next to hers. "Yeah, I know. My mom found the condom wrapper." It's really the only way to explain how she knows.

She sighs and her shoulders slump. "You took the wrapper but left the condom." When I frown at her in confusion, she says, "Your mother telling my parents I left a hickey was enough for my mother to go through the trash in the basement bathroom."

I close my eyes and thump my head against the lockers I'm leaning against. "She found the condom." I make it a statement but she answers it anyway. "Oh, yeah."

"Fuck," I mutter. "I am so sorry." I lick my bottom lip, remembering the sounds she made as I thrust deep into her body. "It was most definitely worth it, though."

Her face softens and she kind of half melts into me. "Yeah?" Her voice is all breathy and goes straight to my dick. 

"Yeah." Leaning in, I press my lips to hers. "I want to taste you next time."

Her breath catches in the back of her throat. "Tas-taste m-me?"

"Mmhm. I hear that women really like it when a guy kisses them between their legs."

The scent of her arousal increases and has my blood rushing through my veins which has the beast straining to get out. I shove him back and keep my lids lowered until I'm sure my eyes are their normal green again.

"Like you said: it was worth it. But I am grounded until we move in June." Her words have my eyes flying open to stare into hers.

"You're moving!?"

"Yeah. My dad got a job in Chicago. He's going up there in a couple of weeks and Mom and I will follow when school lets out."

I open my mouth, not sure what to say, and then close it when nothing comes to mind.

"I guess I should be grateful they're not making me move now. Especially after all this."

"I suppose." I can't keep the disappointment out of my tone. "I'm grounded until the end of the school year, myself, which effectively kills my Spring Break plans."

"I am so sorry, Derek." She nibbles on her bottom lip and I swallow a groan as the sight again makes my dick twitch.

"Me, too. I guess we should have chosen a different time to lose our virginity."

"I guess so." She sways a little bit closer and her scent again has the beast struggling to break free. If only he wanted to break free for the same reason that has me wanting to take Emily somewhere private.

"I'll see if I can't find a place for us here at school. I mean there has to be, right? So many kids want to keep their hook-ups quiet and so wouldn't want to risk one of their friends showing up at their house unexpectedly."

She smiles softly and nods her head. "Yeah, okay." 

Just then the bell rings. She brushes a kiss to my lips, slams her locker closed and with a small wave, heads off to homeroom.

When I enter homeroom, Brad greets me with one of those half hugs that Human men do to prove they're not gay. Then, with a stinging slap to my back, he sits at his desk, his face alight with curiosity.

"So?" He sits on the very edge of his chair. He's just about vibrating in place with impatience.

For a long moment, I just blink at him while slowly sliding into my desk. Then, just as he's about to break and cuss me out, I let a slow smile spread over my face. My dick twitches at the memory of fucking Emily.

"Yeah?" His voice is all breathy and his scent spikes with his excitement and arousal. I can only hope the arousal is due to the thought of Emily naked and not the thought of me fucking her.

"Oh, yeah." I lick my bottom lip. He better not ask for details because I refuse to supply him with jerk-off material. The thought that he might think of me fucking Emily while he rubs one out is just disgusting.

"Hey, what's up?" Greg plops down in the desk in front of Brad, blowing a lock of his unruly curly hair out of his face.

"Hale, here,-" Brad nods at me. "-finally lost his v-card." He says it as if the two of them have active sex lives when I know that they're both still virgins themselves. Well, I know for a fact that Greg is still a virgin; Brad not so much. I mean, he could be the school's man slut for all I know.

Greg's eyes go wide. "That right?" With a smirk, I nod. Greg throws back his head and laughs loud enough for Ms. Anderson to look at us with a glare. "Told you she wouldn't say no." He holds out one hand, palm up, for me to slap. "Also, best way to get over some chick is to get your dick in another. Am I right?" He and Brad crack up at his stupid comment. 

I pretend to laugh because the way they talk about women in general and the girls in this school in particular (especially Emily) has me fighting the urge to throw up. Even the beast hates the way they treat women.

The way I was raised makes it difficult for me to see women as anything other than fierce, independent people who should be treated with respect. Only reason I'm still friends with these two misogynistic assholes is that they're the only ones who didn't bail on me after Paige. I seriously hope that they get their asses handed to them one day by some woman who refuses to take any shit from them.

"So," Greg leans closer and lowers his voice. "how was it?"

"If you think I'm going to give you two jerks any details…" I leave my sentence unfinished, they know how it ends.

"No!" Greg sits back, hands up in a sign of surrender. "No, no, just…" He shares a look with Brad. "Was it good?" From the corner of my eye, I can see Brad nod and point at Greg with his thumb.

"We both came if that's what you're after."

"What? At the same time?" Brad's voice goes high a the end like he's never heard of such a thing.

"Not exactly." My heart starts pounding as I remember how the contractions of her pussy during her orgasm pulled mine from me. "But close enough."

"Yes!" both of them exclaim, pumping their fists in the air.

"Boys!" Ms. Anderson calls.

We all duck our heads and laugh softly.

"So, where'd ya do it?" Brad asks.

"Her basement."

"Where were her parents?" Greg scratches his head.

I shrug like it's no big deal. "Upstairs watching TV."

"Dude!" They share a look and I can see that their respect for me, something I'm beginning to despise, has risen a few points. "Weren't you afraid of getting caught?"

Taking, and releasing a deep breath, I say, "No. But in hindsight, I probably should have been."

"Shit!" Brad covers his mouth with one hand, gaze flying to the front of the room to make sure Ms. Anderson didn't hear him. "You fucking got caught?"

"Nah, man," Greg snickers, and I know that the words that are about to come out of his mouth are going to be the stupidest he has ever uttered. "He got caught fucking!"

With a groan, Brad slaps him upside the back of the head. "That has to the stupidest thing you have ever said, and you've said a lot of stupid shit. In fact, it was so stupid, I lost a few IQ points just from hearing it."

I have to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. But Brad's right; Greg has said some stupid ass shit over the years and that just might be the stupidest yet.

With a huff of frustration, Brad turns back to face me, rolling his eyes. "So what happened?"

"Well, to be honest, we didn't get caught while we were actually fucking. My mom was doing laundry over the weekend and found the open condom packet." I'm getting better at lying, something I'm not even remotely proud of.

"Damn." Brad shakes his head in sympathy. "So?" Both him and Greg give me wide-eyed looks, demanding I get on with the rest of my story.

"Not going to be seeing sunlight until summer."

"Bummer!" Greg mutters and throws himself against the back of his chair so hard his desk almost tips over. Luckily Brad catches it and shoves him back upright.

"What about Spring Break?"

I shake my head. "We can go sometime this summer."

"Dude, you know my family spends the summer in Tahoe," Brad says, his disappointment turning his scent sour.

"And I have summer school." Greg _always_ has summer school. His grades are so bad that I'm surprised the school is still willing to let him take summer school instead of making him repeat the grade.

With a shrug, I settle back in my chair. "I guess I can try and talk her into letting me off the weekend before."

"But it won't be the same as a whole fucking week, Hale!" Brad leans forward so far his chair is braced on only two legs. "I was so looking forward to a whole week of not bathing or brushing my teeth and being able to run around naked if I want-"

"Whoa, hold up!" I put up one hand in his face. "I _do not_ want to spend any amount of time looking at your naked ass, especially since it comes along with your junk. If we get to do this, you will be required to wear at least swim trunks at all times. Am I understood?"

Brad gives me a withering look. "Dude! It's not like I'm gay. I just hate wearing clothes."

While I have absolutely no issues with nudity due to being a Wolf, I so do not want to see either of them naked. "Do not care. I refuse to be anywhere near your naked junk and things it will be touching. That's just gross, man."

Greg taps Brad on the arm and gives him a look. Brad gives in with a muttered, "Yeah, okay, whatever, dude."

"If you're grounded, how're you gonna keep fucking Emily?" Greg asks. "I mean, girl like that must need to be fucked on the regular." He sucks his lower lip into his mouth and gets a look on his face that tells me he's thinking of what sleeping with her is like.

And considering he's still a virgin, I'm pretty sure what he's imaging is not even close to how it truly is.

I scratch my forehead and sigh. "Yeah, about that…"

Brad nods. "I know just the place." He chuckles softly. "Meet me at the tunnel to the lacrosse field during lunch. Does Emily have the same lunch as us?"

Before I can answer, the bell rings and we all gather our stuff for the trek through the halls to first period. "Don't know. I'll find her and ask. If she doesn't, this'll be tricky since I have to head home right after school."

"See ya, then." Brad gives me a nod and a slap on the arm before disappearing in the opposite direction.

Emily and I don't have any classes together and since I don't know her schedule, I look in each classroom I pass on my way to mine. Luckily I find her in a room just down the hall from my next class.

"Hey," I say softly, crouching down next to her desk.

"Hey, yourself." She smiles at me. "What's up?"

"What lunch do you have?"

"A." Her brow crinkles in confusion. "Why?"

With a quick look around, I lean forward and say, "Meet me at the tunnel to the lacrosse field."

"Okay." She stretches out the word. "But again, why?"

"I may have found a place."

Her face brightens. "Yeah?" I nod. "Awesome." She leans forward and presses her lips to mine.

I want nothing more than to deepen it but am stopped by the teacher clearing his throat and tapping me on the shoulder. "You don't belong to me," he says when I look up at him.

"No, sir, I don't." 

Before he can say anything else, the bell rings and I flash Emily a grin before sprinting out the door and up the hall to my classroom, where I get a tardy mark. Luckily for me, Ms. Smith doesn't believe in detention for being just a few minutes late. But she does keep track of how many times and how many minutes we're late and will give detention if too many of each builds up. But then your count resets to zero.

"Careful, Mr. Hale." She gives me The Look. "You're awful close."

She doesn't have to elaborate, everyone knows what she's talking about and proves it by going 'Ooo' in unison while trying not to laugh at me.

"Yes, ma'am. I'll be more careful."

"See that you do." One brow twitches toward her hairline, her way of warning me that she just might have to tell my mother.

Sometimes it totally sucks having Pack members as teachers.

It seems to take forever and a day for lunch to arrive, but eventually, it does and I head for the tunnel at a near run.

Despite that, however, Emily and Brad both beat me there.

"Finally, Hale!" Brad teases. "Follow me."

The three of us make our way through the tunnel, past the lacrosse field, and over to the old field house.

"Brad?" I put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from opening the door.

"Relax, Hale. Lots of students use it. The set up is real nice." He pulls open the door. "If it won't open-" He indicates the tape over the latch. "-then someone is already using it." He ushers us in, pulling off the tape and letting the door swing shut. "Just make sure you replace it when you leave." He points out a roll of duck tape hanging from a nail next to the door. "It locks automatically and no one has the key any longer. So, please, don't be a dick and forget the tape."

Leading us further back, he continues. "No one knows who set this up but the rumor is it was a teacher who was banging his students."

At the end of the passage, he pushes some shelving to the side and reveals a tidy bedroom. "The sheets are to be replaced after each use." He points at some shelves to our right where several packages of sheets are stacked. "Just toss them in the large cans outside. And be sure to buy more at least once a month."

He moves further inside and opens a small cabinet revealing it to be a mini-fridge. "Snacks are free to all, just replace when things are low or if you take the last one. Same with condoms." He opens a shoebox on top of the fridge.

"If there is anything you want for just yourself, don't leave it. If it's here, it's fair game. Also, take all your trash. No one wants to clean up your used condoms."

He turns to look at us. "One last thing: this place is like Vegas and Fight Club: what happens here, stays here, and you don't talk about it. If someone asks if there's a place like this, send them my way. Got it?"

Emily and I both nod.

Brad claps his hands and grins at me. "Excellent. I shall now take my leave so you two can get your groove on." He's almost out the door when he spins back. "Oh, and don't worry about making noise. There isn't anything or anyone around to hear and even if there was, the walls are made out of cinder blocks." With an overly exaggerated shrug, he says, "Well, enjoy!" and is gone.

"Well," Emily says, flopping down on the mattress. 

"Yeah," I say, sitting down next to her.

Everything feels extremely awkward all of a sudden and it's not a feeling I like. But then again, I've never gone somewhere intending to have sex with the person I was with. The only time it has happened it was completely organic; just the natural progression of what we had been doing. But this time... this time I fully intend to have sex with Emily. Or to at least engage in sexual activity with her. Mainly in the form of my mouth on her pussy.

But I don't know how to start. Do I start taking off my clothes? Start taking off her clothes? Kiss her? Ask her if I can lick her pussy? Peter never told me about this part.

"This is stupid." Emily stands up and I feel a moment's panic that she's going to leave. 

But she doesn't. She begins slowly unbuttoning her shirt. Extremely slowly. Like strip tease, slow.

My dick takes a definite notice and is completely behind this idea.

I decide to lie back and enjoy the show she's putting on, being mindful of the time. Can't afford to be late to our next class.

After an eternity of her undressing, she's standing in front of me completely naked. I give myself a moment to look and commit to memory the image of the very first naked woman I've ever seen in person. Friday night doesn't count because we didn't have time to appraise each other's bodies.

While Emily looks boyish with clothes on, she has a more feminine figure when naked. Her breasts are on the small side but I know from experience they fit my hands nicely. Her torso nips in at her waist and flares slightly at her hips. She has trimmed her curls since Friday and her long, shapely legs make me want to have them wrapped tight around my waist or even my head.

"Well?" Her hands twitch where they're hanging at her sides; almost as if she wants to cover herself but is determined to let me look my fill.

"So fucking beautiful." My voice comes out all breathy and husky and I can feel my arousal beating at the base of my cock like a drum.

She raises her eyebrows and flicks one hand in my direction as if to ask why I'm still dressed.

With a deep chuckle and a swipe of my tongue along my lower lip, I stand and begin undressing. Once naked, I stand still and give her the same opportunity to look me over. Her gaze zeros in on my erection and she swallows audibly. 

"You had _that_ in me?"

With a frown, I look down. I've never compared myself to other guys so I have no idea if I'm average or not. "Yeah. Why? Is it too big?"

She meets my eyes. "I have no clue. But you're much bigger than my fingers." She holds up the first two fingers of her right hand. "Which is all I've ever had in me before."

I smile softly at her and take her fingers in my hand. "I think you'll find most guys are. And from what I remember from health class, your vagina is designed to stretch."

"Well, yeah, but still!"

"We don't have much time left today, Emily. Can I taste you? We can fuck next time if you want."

"You really want to do that? Put your mouth and tongue _there_?" She crinkles her nose in the most adorable way.

"Abso-fucking-lutely. My uncle has been telling me about it for years. Says it one of the best things he's ever tasted."

"Your uncle sounds like he's never met an inappropriate moment."

Her statement startles a laugh out of me. "And so he hasn't. He takes great pleasure in trying to shock me. Plus I think he likes pissing off my mom." I step close enough that the tip of my dick touches her abdomen, leaving a smear of pre-come behind. "So? Can I, Emily?"

"Yes," she breathes her answer against my mouth as she falls into my arms.

I run my hands down her back to the back of her thighs, picking her up before turning and laying her down on the bed. Leaning down, I kiss her deep and nasty. When I feel her begin to go boneless, I pull back and kiss my way down her body. I stop to suckle her nipples causing her to arch her back and pulling the most erotic noises from deep in her throat.

I leave tiny little bruises on the underside of each breast, proof that I was there, before moving on to her navel. Dipping my tongue in it, I run the back of my right hand up the inside of her left leg, causing it to twitch. Hiding a smile in her belly, I continue on my way to the heart of her. 

She's already wet and the smell is intoxicating. The beast is making decidedly unhappy noises but I ignore him as usual. I don't care if he doesn't like Emily, I do, and that's all that matters.

I spend several long moments inhaling her scent, my nose pressed between her folds and up against her clit.

"Derek." Emily threads her fingers into my hair and tugs. "Please do something!"

A glance up her body finds her eyelids at half-mast, her pupils wide with her arousal. Sticking out my tongue, I lick the outside of her folds. Her skin is salty and her juices taste like melon. I close my eyes on a groan and go back for another lick and another and another. Gradually my licks get faster and faster and soon my tongue slips between her folds.

Her hips jack-knife off the bed like I've touched her with a cattle prod but the scent of her arousal increases so I know she liked it. So I do it again. And again. And once more until she's panting heavily and gripping my hair so tight, I'm afraid she's going to pull some out.

"Derek!" she screams my name, her thighs clamping tight to the sides of my head.

It takes me a moment to understand what just happened but once I do, I'm chuckling at how quickly I was able to get her off. "Liked that, did you?" I place a soft kiss to the inside of her right thigh.

After several minutes, her legs fall open again and she says yes in a shaky voice. "Do it again. Or, ya know, try something different."

I take a second to check with my internal clock and decide we have time for me to try one more thing. Slipping my arms under her thighs, I pull her legs open some more and wiggle my tongue between her folds until I can slip it inside her pussy. Then, using two fingers from each hand to hold her folds open, I begin to fuck her with my tongue; occasionally adding a hint of teeth.

She begins to ride my tongue, her breath coming ever faster. I have learned the signs of her approaching orgasm and back her off from the edge this time. She whines when I lift my mouth from her.

"Shh," I hush her, placing sucking kisses on her pubic mound. "I'm not done yet."

Her hands are clenching and unclenching in my hair and she's whimpering low in her throat.

"Easy, love, I got you," I murmur, using the middle finger of each hand to hold her open and sucking on her clit like it's my favorite candy.

The noise that comes from her throat is more animalistic than Human and just spurs me on. I suck harder for several seconds, then gently bite down. Her hips are undulating so hard that it's difficult for me to keep up my onslaught. But somehow I manage to slip two fingers of my right hand into her pussy and thrust them in and out while chewing on her clit. This time her orgasm is loud and long and I'm sure if I had been fucking her with my dick, she'd have strangled it, her pussy clenches so tight around my fingers.

Before she has time to even begin to come down, I lean up and grab a condom from the box, rolling it quickly down my erection and sliding balls deep into her. The contractions of her pussy are more than enough for me, but I thrust a few times anyway. And then I'm coming with a howl, my fangs dropping down, my claws popping out and my vision going white at the edges.

I manage to recover before she does and so I'm able to shift back to Human and avoid discovery.

I'm nearly finished getting dressed when she stirs, stretching sensually. "Damn, that was good." Leaning up on her elbows, she gives me a satisfied smile. "Tell me you learned that from watching porn."

"Why?" I grin cheekily at her.

"Because I don't want to think of you doing that to anyone else before. Especially not Paige."

Sitting down on the bed I slip my socks and shoes on. "Paige barely let me kiss her. You think she'd let me lick her pussy?"

"Good." There is just too much female pride in that word for my liking.

"I thought she was your friend."

Emily shrugs. "She was too uptight for her own good." She sniffs. "Although, now that I think about it, it might have done her some good if you had given her an orgasm. Maybe she wouldn't have been such an uppity bitch."

My brows climb my forehead. "Wow. Okay, this is a side of you I never expected to see." Emily frowns at me. "And for your information, I gave Paige an orgasm, unintentional as it was, and all it did was push her away."

"Oh." Her face falls. "Well, that explains why she was acting the way she was that last week."

My phone buzzes in my pocket and I know our time is up. "Fuck! We got to get to class."

She quickly rolls from the bed and pulls her clothes on while I strip and remake the bed.

Once outside, I make sure the tape is over the latch while she tosses the sheets in one of the dumpsters nearby.

"So, I guess we should make some kind of schedule?" she suggests as we walk-run back to campus.

"Sure. Let's try three times a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and if others are there then we'll adjust accordingly."

"Sounds good." She leans up to press a kiss to my cheek before disappearing into the crowd clogging the hall.

Despite what I've heard around school, every time Emily and I go to the field house, we find it empty. Either none of the other couples have the same lunch period as us or they don't have sex as often. Or we're just lucky enough to always find it empty.

Not long after we start meeting at lunch, Emily decides she's ready to try giving me a blow job. I can't say anything about her technique since it's my first blow job, too, but she sure is enthusiastic and that's more than enough to get me over the edge. Well, that and the sight of her breasts hanging free and swinging gently with her movements. I actually have to close my eyes at one point to prevent myself from coming too soon.

But when she leans up, licking her lips like my come is the best thing she's ever tasted, I just have to pull her to me so I can lick that self-satisfied smirk off her face. And end up discovering I love the way she tastes after she's sucked me off.

Later, she tells me that she's been spending time with her sister, asking questions and getting advice on how to please a guy in bed. I tell her to thank her sister for me because so far her advice has been spot on.

A couple of weeks before the end of the school year, my mom goes to visit Laura at her school and Emily's mom goes to Chicago to look at houses. We are extremely excited to have a whole weekend to spend at the field house and take full advantage that Friday after school.

School let out about an hour ago and we've spent almost the entire time with my head buried between her legs. I'm determined to beat my current record of giving her six orgasms back to back. Currently, she's on number five with six looking to be the biggest one yet.

I've got three fingers in her pussy and I'm chewing on her clit like it's a piece of bubble gum. About twenty minutes ago she lost the ability to make coherent noises; her vocabulary having been reduced to sounds made entirely out of vowels. To prevent her from ripping handfuls of my hair out, I've tied her hands to an eye-hook we found screwed into the wall behind the bed. 

Pulling my fingers out has her giving a high pitched whine and pumping her hips.

"Shh," I murmur, rubbing small circles on her lower abdomen. "Just need to take a short break."

I reach over to the side table and pick up the bottle of water I put there earlier. After taking a sip, I assist her in taking one, too. Her eyes flutter open and the look in them isn't nearly as dazed as just a few minutes before.

"Better?" I ask, taking another sip before putting the bottle down.

She swallows and nods. "Yeah. Thanks."

With a smirk that has a look of apprehension appearing on her face, I lean down and resume my assault on her pussy. This time, I slip my pinky in with my other fingers and spread them until she moans. Then I begin to slowly thrust them in and out, swirling my thumb over her clit at the end of each in-stroke.

"You don't play fair, do you?" The last word ends on a wail when I find that spot inside that always has her coming apart when I rub on it.

"All's fair in love and war, sweetheart."

"Ass." I'm sure the insult would have more heat behind it if it hadn't been uttered in a breathy voice followed by a moan and the clenching of her thigh muscles signaling orgasm number seven.

I chuckle at the lackluster glare she throws me and settle down on my belly so I can properly eat her out. Just as I'm getting into it and she's in the beginning stages of orgasm number eight, my phone goes off. I ignore it because it's Cora's ringtone and even though she knows to not call me, she has just enough of the bratty little sister in her to call for the pleasure of knowing she's interrupting me.

But when it rings again almost as soon as it stops, I know it's something important. Wiping my chin on the back of my hand, I get up to grab my jeans off the floor and dig my phone out of my pocket. And see a missed text from Mom saying she's coming back after only a few hours on the road. Cora must be calling to warn me.

"Shit!" I hurriedly untie Emily and begin pulling my clothes on.

"What? What's wrong?" Emily also starts getting dressed.

"My mother turned around half-way to Laura."

"What? Why?"

"Dunno. Just know I'm in deep if I don't get home before her."

"Go." She shoves on my shoulders. "I got this."

"You sure?"

She goes up on her toes to press a kiss to my lips. "Yeah. Now go!" She makes shooing motions with her hands.

I grab her around the waist to lick my way into her mouth one last time, and then I'm sprinting out the door and praying I get home before my mom.

My luck continues to disappoint me and I skid to a halt at the bottom of the back porch stairs, my way into the house blocked by my enraged mother.

"Mom-" I try to explain but she just cuts me off.

"I don't want to hear it." She stomps down the stairs until she's standing directly in front of me. Even though she's barefoot, she's only an inch or two shorter than me so we're practically standing eye-to-eye. "I don't understand you, Derek. Am I overly strict? Are my rules too harsh?" She sighs and drops my gaze, backing up a half step.

I'm confused. As Alpha, she never looks away first. Ever. And yet here she is, showing me a vulnerable side.

"No, Alpha," I reply, my voice soft and thick with tears.

I hate disappointing her. But I don't understand why she's so against me having sex with Emily.

"Then why do you keep disobeying me?"

I shrug. "Why don't you want me having sex with Emily? Is it because she's Human?"

Her head snaps up so quickly at my last question, my neck twinges in sympathy. "Is that what you think this is about?" I nod my head and she rolls her eyes. "I have nothing against Humans. And there is nothing wrong with being friends with them or having sex with them or even mating with them. My issue is you ignoring your wolf."

Tears fill my eyes at her statement. The beast and I have been at odds for years and I haven't called him 'my wolf' since he used my hands to kill Paige. "The fucking beast that lives inside me killed the woman I loved! I wish I was Human!"

She slaps my face so hard, my head snaps to the side and my ears ring. I place one hand to the burning heat of my cheek and stare at her in shock. Never in my life has she hit me, not even a spanking as a child.

"You don't get to say shit like that to me! As your mother, it is the worst insult you could ever say."

"But it's true. This Pack hates me because you let Peter live and he's pure evil and now everyone keeps waiting for me to turn out just like him."

"Oh, my darling boy." She reaches for me but I just step back and watch her fingers curl slowly into her palm before her hand lowers to her side, the stench of her sadness at my rejection heavy in the evening air. "You could never be anything like Peter."

"How can you say that? You don't even know him! Since Papa died, he has been saying inappropriate things to me about sex. Nearly every day I have to listen to some lecture about how to fuck a woman or suck her nipples or…" I bite my tongue to stop myself from saying something that will offend her. "Or any of a hundred other things. I'm surprised he never slipped me a porno mag or tried to show me pornos." 

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"And make it worse? Every time you ordered him to leave me alone, he'd show up at school and harass me and my friends. I can't figure out how he managed to not get banned from school grounds."

Something makes her deflate all of a sudden and she sinks down to sit on the stairs. "C'mere." She pates the step next to her. I sit as far away from her as I can while still being on the same step.

"I love you so much, Derek. I know you don't understand and I'm making a mess out of this." She stops to clear her throat. "Laura was a much easier teenager."

"No, she just knew how to not get caught."

"What?"

I shake my head. "Not important."

"Right." She points at me. "But we will be coming back to that later."

She leans against the railing and looks off toward the trees. "I wasn't like you, Derek. I met your dad when I was fifteen and knew I'd mate with him. Oh, sure, there were guys in my class I had crushes on but I didn't date any of them. Mama didn't want me going to that Pack Meet but Papa said it would be good for me since I was going to be Alpha one day.

"The instant my eyes landed on Anders, my wolf began dancing and howling and acting like she was a puppy again. He was there to find a potential Mate just like most of the others."

She turns her head and looks me in the eyes. "We had sex the last night of the meet. It was...nice. Despite knowing we were Mates, it wasn't what I thought it would be. And the same held for him."

I open my mouth but she holds up a hand. "I'm not saying that people should wait until they're married, just that there are so many emotions involved in the act of sex that it gets very confusing. There is no such thing as casual sex, Derek. Having sex with someone you don't care about is just begging for trouble. _That's_ what this is about."

She manages to catch me by surprise when she reaches out and runs one hand over my hair. "The age of consent in California is eighteen for a reason. Teenagers are just not mature enough, emotionally, to handle everything that goes along with having a sexual relationship. Hell, some adults aren't either."

Her smile is sad. "I'm glad you found someone to get your mind off Paige but, Derek, please be careful with this girl. A broken heart at your age is survivable but it will still hurt like a bitch and I don't want that for you. Especially when you've barely begun to heal from losing Paige."

"Is this what you were trying to tell me about Paige?"

"Yeah. I know you had real feelings for her. And it is possible that you did love her. But your wolf didn't agree, so a future with her would have been inadvisable. Same with this new girl. What's her name, again?"

"Emily."

"Emily." Mom nods. "I do recall that she's very pretty. And yes, I would have chosen Paige over her for you but you need to listen to your wolf. He'll tell you when you meet the one for you."

I shake my head. "No. I've decided, and I mean it this time, I will not mate anyone."

"Oh, Derek."

"It's too much trouble so I'm just not going to do it." I swallow down the lump my incompetence has forming in my throat. "You want me to wait until I'm eighteen to have sex again? Fine. Emily's moving in a couple of weeks anyway. May I go now?" I get up and enter the house without waiting for her response.

I fully expect Mom to wake me early the next morning so I can work in the yard, but she doesn't. She seems to be actively avoiding me for the rest of the weekend. And that's perfectly fine by me. Or so I'd like to believe. But if I'm honest, even if only with myself, it's not. Not even a little bit.

"Hey," Emily says softly, placing one hand gently on my shoulder when she finds me at my locker Monday morning. "So how bad is it?"

"It's not."

"What?"

I turn to lean one shoulder against the wall. "Yeah. She didn't add on to my punishment. Just tried to tell me that sex is bad unless you're married." I make a face. "She tells me that she doesn't believe sex is only for married people but then she tells me that she wishes she had waited. Oh, and apparently we're not emotionally mature enough."

"Huh. Now I'm even more surprised she didn't call my parents."

"She didn't?"

Emily shakes her head. "And not to change the subject, but it is kinda related: I might be moving this weekend instead of in two weeks."

"What?!"

"Yeah. Mom's talking to the principal right now to see if I can take my finals this week."

"If he doesn't let you?"

She shrugs. "Guess I'll be staying with my sister."

"Are you sure my mom didn't call your mom?"

Emily stares at me for a long moment before wilting. "She must have. Damnit! I thought that since Mom didn't say she had talked to your mother…"

"It's like parents forget what it's like to be our age."

"Yeah." She looks out at the kids milling about in the hall waiting for first bell. "I swear I won't do this to my kids. I will let them know that they can tell me anything and I won't try to dictate their lives."

"Same. Not that I'm planning on having kids."

"You're not?"

"Nope. Don't want to get married. So-" I shrug. "-no kids."

She laughs. "Don't have to be married to have kids."

"I know but I don't want kids. I refuse to risk repeating my mother's mistakes."

Just then the bell rings. "See you at the field house?" Emily starts to walk away.

I shake my head. "We'd better not."

"Okay. It was fun, Derek. I'm glad I met you."

"Same. Be well, Emily."

She runs back and gives me a brief kiss. "Bye," she whispers against my lips before turning and melting into the crush of students headed to homeroom.

I see Emily a couple of times over the next couple of days, mostly in the halls between classes, a couple of times at her locker. Each time we smile softly at each other but don't speak and continue on our separate ways. On the last day of school, I find out that the principal allowed her to take her finals early. 

While I was expecting to feel something at her no longer being in my life, or even in Beacon Hills where I could possibly run into her, I am thoroughly unprepared for the heart ache that comes at the news that she is beyond my reach.

I mean, I didn't feel even half of what I felt - what I _feel_ , dammit! I still love her - for Paige, it's obvious to me now that I was on my way to loving Emily. And now I have to hide my broken heart from my mother.

I've stopped being surprised by anything my mother does, so I'm expecting it when she calls me into her office one morning two weeks into summer vacation.

"Shut the door and have a seat."

This is not going to be a good conversation, not with the door being closed. While the bedrooms are soundproofed, Mom's office is not. But when the door is closed, everyone knows to tune out the conversation going on inside.

"You're old enough to get a job." Of all the things Mom could have said, that is not even on the list. "The brother of Maggie's Mate owns a construction company and they're looking for some help this summer." She holds out a small card. I take it and see that it's a business card. "You start Monday. You're to go to the address on the card and they will help you fill out the necessary paperwork, then tell you which job site to go to."

"And if I don't want a job?" I know I'm risking a lot by questioning this but don't really care. "Or at least not _this_ job?" Seriously. If she had just told me to get a job, I would have gone into town and found one that I know I'd enjoy. Preferably something inside with air conditioning.

"The owner's brother is the Mate of one of our Pack. He may be Human, but he will watch out for you. You will show up to work every day that you're supposed to. And you will do your very best. Am I clear?"

"If I don't?"

Her eyes flash red and it's all I can do to not drop to my knees but as it is, I whine low in my throat while tilting my head, baring my neck. "Do. Not. Test. Me, Derek. I have put up with a lot from you this past year and I am so far from done it's not even funny." She turns her attention to the stack of papers on her desk. "Now, I trust you will do as you've been instructed."

It's not a question but an answer is still required. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. You may go now."

Promptly at 8am on Monday, I walk into the office of Calhoun and Sons Construction. A pretty middle-aged woman walks me through filling out the required paperwork which takes about an hour. She then sets me up in an office and puts a video on the computer that explains the importance of safety and protocols and how to not kill myself or any coworkers while on a job site. It's the most boring two hours of my life.

After the safety video is an orientation video that I feel should have been first because it's a 'welcome to the company and here's what we're about' video. After that, I'm let loose for an hour for lunch.

I have no money and forgot to make me something for lunch, I had a lunch account at school so never had to think about it. So I just wander around the business district, such as it is, getting a look at a part of Beacon Hills I've never been to before.

When I get back to the office, I'm handed a neon safety vest, a hard hat, and an address.

The address will take me past the house, so I take the time to slip home for a sandwich and some work gloves, can't have anyone asking why I don't develop blisters or calluses. Oh, and the sunscreen. I know that construction workers get burnt all the time and plan to explain that I had a really bad sunburn as a kid and the doctor strongly advised against risking another bad burn, should they ask or tease me about the sunscreen.

Surprisingly, I end up not having to worry about explaining the gloves or sunscreen. As soon as I began slathering the sunscreen on, several of the other guys asked if they can use it, too. And since my mother taught me how to share, I just shrug and pass it over.

With it being summer, Mr. Calhoun can have me working a forty-hour week and so he does. At first, I'm just part of the cleanup crew but slowly, they begin teaching me things. In the fourth week of working with the crew, I learn how to measure and cut the boards for the framing. I love how powerful I feel using the power saw.

Then I learn how to nail the boards together. The sound of the nail gun is startling at first but I soon learn to anticipate it and stop flinching; doesn't stop the guys from teasing me about it, though.

The house is nearly finished by the end of summer and I have learned everything that is involved in building a house. My favorite is the framing, because of the power tools involved. But the electrical and plumping is interesting, too.

When school starts, I expect Mom to tell me to quit but she manages to surprise me by letting me continue to work, albeit only on the weekends, but still.

Since Mr. Calhoun only has me for two days a week, he only sends me on one or two day jobs.

Until the job he sends me on a few days before my seventeenth birthday. 

The job, while a longer one than usual, is an easy one. I'm part of a four-man crew, sent to build a small one-room guest house in the backyard of a house that is probably only a few hundred square feet smaller than the one I live in. But their backyard is nowhere near as big as mine, I live deep in the preserve and they live in the heart of an upper-middle-class neighborhood.

We've been on the site for a few hours when a car pulls into the drive and one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen gets out.

And for the third time in as many years, I find my resolve to keep my 'never going to take a mate' vow tested. Only this time I have no idea just how much she will fuck me up. And it all starts with a simple, "Hi! I'm Kate."


	5. Ages 16-22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here it is. The final chapter. The first three parts of the next story are ready to post. The fourth part is mostly done. I hope you've enjoyed this so far.
> 
> So, while doing another read through, I realized that what I wrote for Derek's time in New York doesn't match what I had him tell the sheriff, so I rewrote part of this chapter.

Three simple words and I'm completely under her spell. She could ask me to commit murder and I would, gladly.

My dick fills so suddenly that I'm lightheaded for a long moment. She grins like she knows the effect she has on me. And I guess she does. Woman as beautiful as her must be used to men falling at her feet when she graces them with her presence.

I'm nearly useless for the rest of the day as I imagine those plump lips wrapped around my cock, sucking my brains out. I'm so distracted that I almost nail my hand to a piece of drywall.

"Hey! Pay attention, Hale!" Marcus, the foreman, yells when he notices. "Seriously. What's your problem today, kid?"

He follows my gaze and sees Kate sitting in a deck chair in the sun, beautiful body on display in the tiniest bikini I have ever seen. "Ah." He turns back to me and slaps the part of my head not protected by my hardhat. "Keep it in your fucking pants! And keep your eyes on that nail gun! I, for one, _do not_ want to explain to your mother that you nailed yourself to the drywall because you couldn't stop eye fucking the client's sister."

I force myself to stop staring in Kate's direction. "Yes, sir."

It doesn't get any better from there. I just make sure I don't have any dangerous tools in my hands when I stop to stare at her.

A week later, I just about swallow my tongue when she removes her bikini top before settling into the chair. The other three guys must be seriously in love with their wives, or they're gay, because none of them even blink an eye at those perfect breasts on full display. I, however, have to spend the rest of the day with an erection that just will not go away. Because there's no way in hell I'm rubbing one out in the port-a-potty.

Several weeks later, we're installing the last of the siding, when Kate approaches me. I look around frantically when I see her headed my way but Joe and Marcus are inside the main house double checking the plans with the client and Andrew is in the can. 

"It's Derek, right?"

"Um," I swallow thickly. You'd think I'm a virgin from my reaction to her. "Yeah."

"I've noticed you watching me."

"I-I-I'm s-sorry. I…"

"Sh." She places one finger on my lips and leans close to whisper, "I like it" against my ear. The warmth of her breath ghosting over my skin has a shiver skating down my spine and the beast rumbling deep inside. It's the first I've heard from him since Emily.

"You...you do?"

"Yes." She makes the word sound dirty and predatory. The beast hunches his back, his hackles raised, lip curled in a snarl when she runs her right hand down my chest and cups me through my jeans. I most definitely _do not_ squeak when she squeezes. Her chuckle at the twitch her touch produces is the sexy kind of evil. "If you stay late, I can help you with this."

"Oh, I-I-I…" Seriously, where did the confident me that fucked Emily senseless go?

"Mm," she hums, removing her hand and stepping back. "Pity." She pouts so very prettily. "We could have had a lot of fun." And then she's walking away. She removes her top before sitting back down in her chair. And then she does something she never has before: she rubs sun lotion into her skin. But it doesn't take long before I realize that the oil is just an excuse to play with her nipples.

With a groan, I turn away and go back to what I'm getting paid for.

A couple of days later, I tell Mom that the guys want to take Marcus out for a belated birthday dinner since it's Friday and I don't have school the next day. She's skeptical but agrees.

When I arrive at the worksite after school, Kate is already topless and sitting in the deck chair. Keeping one eye on the open door to the nearly finished guest house, I approach her. "Hey."

She shields her eyes with one hand, squinting up at me. "Oh, hey, Derek." Closing her eyes, she drops her hand and wiggles a bit in the chair; the movement making her tits jiggle and my mouth go dry.

"I can give you two hours tonight."

Tilting her head, she squints up at me again. "Oh, honey, you didn't know that was a one time offer?"

"Oh." My disappointment is nearly as strong as my embarrassment. "Of course. Sorry to bother you."

She makes a noise in the back of her throat. "I swear, if you weren't so fucking cute," she mutters almost too low for me to hear.

But I know she couldn't possibly mean it so I keep walking away. Until I feel her hand on my arm.

"I want your dick in me so badly that I can hardly think straight. Why do you think I started sunbathing topless? Chris has been screaming at me for exposing myself to four strange men; totally forgetting that when we were kids we spent summers in Europe where just about every beach allows women to be at least topless."

I turn to face her and my gaze falls immediately to her breasts. They're larger than Emily's with quarter-sized areolas and dusty pink nipples. My mouth starts to water at just the thought of what they'll taste like.

"I can work with two hours. Try and get more, next time, 'kay?" She kisses two fingers and presses them to my lips before turning and skipping back to her chair.

I know I'm not fooling the guys even a little when I tell them my mom is running late at the end of the day. But it doesn't matter. I'll gladly take the teasing I see in my future because tonight I'll be fucking Kate.

While Emily and I fucked three times a week for several months, we almost always fucked with me on top so I could watch her face while I thrust deep inside her.

But Kate is older and has more experience than me. And her preferred position is me on my back and her riding me like I'm a horse. She also prefers to tie my hands to the headboard. I don't like that as much as I had thought I would; I like to play with her tits too much.

I quickly come to the realization that I'm just a flesh and blood dildo for her. That the only reason it's me and not Andrew, who has to be the prettiest man I've ever seen, is because she knew she could sink her claws into me.

I know this, and yet I'm still hard-pressed to find it in me to care. I'm getting laid almost every weekend, My lies are getting less believable and yet Mom is still accepting them.

Then things change the second week of January. The guest house is finally complete, and I haven't come up with an excuse to continue to see Kate.

When I arrive for our 'date', I find that she's cooked dinner. She has never fed me before because all she was interested in was my dick and how she could use it to get off.

"I thought since this will be the last time we see each other, that it should be special," she explains, taking my coat and tossing it on the couch. "I wasn't sure what your favorite food is so I just went with the classic meat and potatoes. Specifically steak and baked potatoes."

My stomach growls making me blush. "Sounds great."

She laughs softly and takes my hand. "After we eat, I thought we'd sit on the patio and look at the stars."

"But I only have a few hours, Kate."

"Sh." She spins to face me, her breasts pressed against my chest. "We'll get to the fucking, I promise." She pouts up at me, fingers playing with the buttons of my shirt. "But it is the last time we'll see each other, Derek. I leave for Texas in the morning. Let me have this, please?"

I have never been able to say no to her and now is no different. "Okay. But I want to eat you in that fucking deck chair."

This time her laugh is the laugh of a woman who knows she has a man by the balls. "Of course, sweetheart. You can fuck me in that chair, too."

I growl low in my throat and start to ask if we can skip right to the fucking but my stomach rumbles again. "Then let's eat."

After just a couple of bites, I begin to feel weird. When I look at Kate, I find a pout on her mouth, but satisfaction in her eyes. "I had hoped it would take you a few more bites-" If she has anything else to say, I don't hear it because at that moment my world goes black.

A splash of cold water brings me sputtering back to wakefulness. "About time." While I know the voice belongs to Kate, it's a tone I have never heard from her. It's full of hate and has the bottom of my stomach falling out.

"Ah. I see you've figured it out." She steps into view. "Let me properly introduce myself: I'm Kate Argent." I stiffen as much as I can, seeing as I'm chained to a chain link fence with my feet several inches off the floor. "Oh, yes, I'm one of _those_ Argents. Glad to see your bitch of a mother told you about us." She runs one finger down my chest. My naked chest. "Did you ever wonder why I insisted on tying you up before we fucked?" She runs her nails across my stomach hard enough to produce thin lines of blood that instantly heal. "Because I could barely stand to ride that _thing_ that hangs between your legs. Although, I will admit it is one of the biggest I've ever had. But you're nothing but a fucking _animal_ and I had to scrub for hours in a scolding hot shower just to remove the memory of your disgusting touch." She again scratches me hard enough to draw blood. And again the scratches instantly heal.

"You will tell me everything I want to know. If you lie or hesitate in answering-" She walks over to a machine with dials and gauges on it. The wires coming from it trail over the floor and lead...to...two spots on my torso. I stare open mouthed at her because surely she wouldn't- She twists a dial and a shock courses through my body causing my hips to flex away from the fence and I involuntarily shift. "That will happen. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," I snarl. "Why are you doing this? My family has never hurt anyone."

She chuckles. "Oh, honey. You have hurt lots of people. You're an animal, an abomination, and like the rabid dog you are, you must be put down." She twists the dial again. I grit my teeth to keep from screaming; I refuse to give her the satisfaction of that.

She begins throwing questions at me about the layout of the house, how many people live in it, when they might all be inside at the same time. I force her to turn the electricity up several times before I answer any of her questions. It hurts but protecting my family is more important than momentary pain.

Then she asks a couple of questions that take me by surprise. "Will there be a get together for the full moon tonight? And are there any secret passages out of the house that can be used to get to safety?"

I'm hanging limping in my bonds, the beast is whimpering brokenly somewhere deep inside, and I'm finding it difficult to not only concentrate but to draw air into my lungs. Shaking my head, I spit a mouthful of blood onto the floor. She turns the dial up higher than she has so far and this time I can't stop the scream that is ripped from my throat.

"Answer me!" she screams in my face. "I will kill you and not think twice about it."

"Then do it." I barely have the energy to taunt her. "Kill me and see what that gets you."

She backhands me, a frustrated screech making my ears ring. Turning on her heel, she stomps from the room, slamming the door behind her. Relief floods my body and I sag in my bonds, feeling the burns from the wires taped to my torso slowly beginning to heal. I lean my head on my left arm and let my eyes drift shut. My internal clock tells me it's been nearly a day since she drugged me at her brother's house. I estimate that I was unconscious for about six hours. If she's planning something to coincide with the full moon, her time is running out. The moon will be full soon and the gathering will disperse soon after.

Most Weres have a slight bond with their Pack members, the one with blood relatives and their Alpha being strongest but the one I have with my mother is exceptionally strong. I can feel her in the back of my head and tend to ignore it for the most part. It's not like it can be used to locate me, it's more like she can tell if I'm injured or not. 

Ever since I regained consciousness, my mother's worry for me has been screaming in my head. It's part of what has the beast so worked up. I have been trying to let her know I need her but I don't think it works that way. She must be frantic for me to feel her worry this strongly.

I fall asleep at some point and Kate wakes me with another bucket of cold water. Sputtering and struggling in my bonds, I look around frantically. And discover that she's not alone. I've never seen the man standing next to her. They have similar enough features for me to guess they're related; and considering he's much older than her, I'd say he's her father.

He steps close and shoves his fist into my midsection, pushing the breath from my lungs.

"My daughter has asked you two very important questions. If you value your life, you'll answer them."

"Why should I? You're just gonna kill me when you're done."

His smile is twice as evil as his daughter's. Did I once think her the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen? "I can make it painless or I can drag it out. Make tiny little cuts, let them start to heal, then open them again. Over and over until it ceases to be fun." He shoves a knife deep into my abdomen and twists it. "So, what's it gonna be, boy? Swift or drawn out?"

My eyes drift closed and two tears slide down my cheeks. Through my sobs, I begin to tell them what they want to know.

When I'm done betraying my Pack, they pull me from the fence and drag me to a car where I'm tossed into the backseat. The old man gets behind the wheel and Kate leans over the seat, pointing a gun at my head. "It's loaded with wolfsbane bullets. You so much as think about alerting anyone to what we're doing and I'll shoot you in the head." I can hear the truth of her words in her heartbeat.

We drive until the road ends. Kate pulls me from the car. "Show us this tunnel." Using the muzzle of the gun she forces me to start walking. 

I have to look around for a minute because I've never come to the tunnel from this direction. But eventually, I find it. With a shove of her hand to the middle of my back, she gets me to enter it. Every time I slow down, she pushes me forward until we come to the door leading into the basement of the house.

"This is the only other way out?"

"Yes. Now kill me."

"Tsk, tsk, Derek. So eager to die." Kate pouts and shakes her head. "No, I don't think we'll kill you. At least not yet. You really should see your handy work through to the end." Her laugh has bile climbing the back of my throat.

Spinning on her heel, she throws a jar at the bottom of the door and I instantly feel the magic of mountain ash forming a barrier. Even though I knew they were going to prevent my Pack from escaping whatever it is they have planned, I never thought they'd use a magical barrier to do it.

"And now for you." She takes out another jar and walks around me, leaving a trail of mountain ash in her wake.

When she's done, I realize that I'm close enough to the door that I'll be able to see and talk to whoever tries to leave first and they will know that I'm the one who betrayed them.

"Kate, don't do this. I beg you."

"Oh, sweetie. You brought this on yourself." She steps close, taking care to not step on the line of ash at our feet. "See, I knew who you were before I even showed up at my brother's place. He called Dad and told him that one of the Hales was working on his guest house, which will have to be torn down now, of course. And Dad just couldn't have that so he sent me to distract you. So this-" She waves a hand in the air. "-was planned long before we even met." She runs her nails down my torso leaving deep scratches that weep blood. "I must say, though, that I never thought you'd be so easy. Guess I should have. I mean you are just a dumb animal."

"My Pack doesn't hurt Humans. Some of our members are Human. And there are several pu- children, too."

"You. Are. All. Animals! And you must be put down."

"What about your family code?"

"Fuck the code. My orders come from my dad. He says you all die, so you'll all die." This time when she reaches out, she runs her nails down the side of my face. "All except for you. You get to watch them all burn to death."

"This hatred you have for Weres is just like the hatred racists have for black people. It makes no sense. Most Weres are born and therefore have no say in it. And of those that are bitten about half are without consent. How can you hate me because of a chance of birth?"

She shrugs. "I've seen what your kind does to people."

"So we must all die? Because of the actions of a few? How does that make sense?"

"Stop talking! I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth unless I ask you a question."

Just then I can hear screaming coming from the other side of the door along with the roar of a fire. I close my eyes as tears begin to flow down my cheeks.

"Derek?" My eyes open at the sound of my mother's voice.

She's standing in the open door to the basement, the Pack crowded around her.

"I'm so sorry," I whisper just before pain streaks through me and I drop to my knees with a scream.

"He screams so prettily, doesn't he?" Kate is standing over me, her once beautiful face distorted with hatred, a cattle prod clutched in one hand.

"Please don't hurt him!" Mom begs, one hand pressed to the magical barrier created by the mountain ash.

"Oh, but it's so much fun." She jabs me again with the prod. My body jerks and I bite my tongue to keep from screaming.

"Derek!" Mom presses harder against the barrier, tears making tracks in the soot covering her face.

"Mom!" I reach out for her but am stopped short by my own barrier.

"Aw, isn't that sweet?" Kate jabs me yet again. I'm beginning to find it difficult to stay conscious, my vision keeps going white around the edges.

"Please!" Mom drops to her knees, sobs wracking her frame. "Why are you doing this? What did we ever do to you?"

"You exist. That's more than enough." This time when she touches the prod to my back she leaves it there for several minutes. When she pulls it away, I'm gasping for breath and my vision is blurry.

Every few minutes, Kate pokes me with the prod. When the smoke starts to make her cough, she breaks the barrier around me and pulls me to my feet. "Time to go, lover boy."

I turn to look at my dying Pack as she pulls me from the tunnel. We're just steps from the entrance when the force of the bond between me and my mother breaking brings me to my knees. I throw my head back and let out the saddest howl of my life. It is answered almost immediately by Laura's. Kate drops my arm and takes off running for where she left the car. But I don't care because Laura is still alive. I'm not all alone.

Staggering to my feet, I head in the direction of the house. As I crest the hill that hides the tunnel, the eerie sight of men and women battling the fireball that once was my house greets me. A man in a sheriff's uniform stops me before I get too close.

"Hold up, there, son," he says, taking me by the shoulders.

"That's my house!" My knees refuse to hold me any longer and I collapse into his arms, crying on his shoulder.

"Okay, son. It's gonna be okay." I feel him wave one hand at someone behind me and then a blanket is draped over my bare back. "Come with me." He begins leading me away.

He tucks me into the front seat of an SUV and drives me into town. I drift in and out, it's been a very long day, and having electrical currents course through my body for several hours has left my muscles shaky and uncooperative.

At the station, he guides me inside and sets me on a couch in an office. Pulling a chair around to face me, he sits down. "I'm Sheriff Stilinski. Are you Derek Hale?"

I nod. "My family…"

Stilinski places one hand on my knee. "I'm sorry, son." I begin to softly cry again. "I have to ask  
you a few questions. Do you feel up to it?"

I want to say no but I know that Laura will be here any minute and this man needs all the information I can give him so I nod again.

"Okay, good. Now, if you need anything, just ask, okay?" Again I nod. "Where were you coming from that you don't have a shirt on?"

I glance up, meet his eyes for a fraction of a second, then look away again. "I was in the woods with a friend."

"Ah," he says and I know he thinks I was hooking up with a girl or maybe a boy due to the way I refuse to meet his eyes. "This friend have a name?"

That has me lifting my head and glaring at him. "Do you think _I_ set my house on fire? With my family inside?"

"These are just routine questions, Derek. We have to explore all options."

 _"Derek! Where's my brother?"_ Laura's voice keeps me from replying.

"Laura!" I jump up from the couch and rush from the room. We crash into each other in the middle of the bullpen, wrapping our arms tight around one another. "Oh, thank God! I thought I was the only one still alive."

"What happened?" Laura pulls back to take my face in her hands.

I shake my head, knowing she knows that I can't say anything here surrounded by Humans. She nods and pulls me back into her arms.

"Are you Laura?" Stilinski approaches.

"Yes." Laura tucks me against her left side so she can shake the sheriff's hand. "I'll be taking my brother, now."

"We have questions for the both of you."

"Why? Neither of us were home."

"It's standard procedure. You want the people responsible to pay, don't you?"

"What I want, Sheriff, is to take my brother and get out of this town. And, if I'm not mistaken, I can do that as his next of kin."

"You might not even know that you know something that'll help us catch the perpetrators."

Laura sighs and I know she's about to go Alpha on the sheriff, so I pinch her side, silently asking her to behave. "I can assure you, Sheriff, that neither of us knows anything that'll help you. Now, my brother and I are leaving." She turns us and we walk from the station. I keep expecting one of the deputies to stop us but they don't and then we're standing next to the car.

"God, Derek!" A sob wracks her body and she collapses against me.

"Laura, we don't have time for both of us to break down. We need to get out of here, find the nearest motel, and then we can grieve."

She nods, stands up, wipes her face, and walks around to the driver's side, sliding behind the wheel.

As we drive away from the only home I have ever known, I give up the fight to remain conscious.  
= = = =  
Sunlight shining through my closed eyelids pulls me slowly from the depths of a deep sleep. Blinking my eyes open, I take a look around and find that I'm lying on a bed in a dingy motel room. The curtains on the window are open as is the door to the room. Through the window, I can see the back of Laura's head.

Tossing back the covers, I sit up, stretching and rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Standing, I make my way outside where I take the chair to Laura's left, yawning and scratching absently at a still healing burn mark on my lower abdomen.

"'bout time you woke up," Laura grumbles. "You're fucking heavy."

"How long?"

"Sixteen hours."

"Fuck!"

Laura chuckles. "Yeah. I drove until my eyes got heavy, about six hours. Pulled in here and then had to drag your unconscious ass out of the car and onto the bed."

"Yeah, well, being drugged and electrocuted will do that to a person."

Laura turns to frown at me. "I think you need to tell me what happened."

My stomach protests its empty status. "Can I eat something first?"

"There's pizza on the table in there." She flicks her head back through the window.

I get up and grab a couple of slices before returning to my chair. Laura allows me to eat both pieces before giving me a look that says I had better start explaining.

Wiping my hands on my jeans, I look away. There's no way I can face her as I explain how I betrayed our Pack. I start slowly, telling her the unvarnished truth; doing my best to not offer any excuses. I can feel the anger coming off her in waves getting stronger and darker the longer I speak. Until I get to the torture I suffered at the hands of Kate and her father. Laura's anger disappears like a burst light bulb. Only to be replaced by a seething hatred for anyone named Argent.

We stay for exactly four days in that run-down motel before moving on. Heading east, always east. Laura has always wanted to attend Columbia but Mom refused to let her go anywhere where she wouldn't be under the protection of one of our allies. And while Laura understood, she was Mom's heir, it still rankled. But now we're not safe in California so she's free to move us across the country.  
= = = =  
We've been in Vegas for nearly three months, now. Despite that, I still haven't been to Freemont Street. I've heard the rumors and yet I still want to go there.

Most nights I'm too busy studying, Laura is insistent on me getting my GED so I can attend college if I want, or at least get a job that pays more than minimum wage once we get to New York. But tonight, I decided to take a break from studying.

I've been standing on a street corner for about twenty minutes just watching the lights when a man approaches. "How much for a few hours of your time?"

I look around, positive he can't be talking to me. 'Excuse me?" I ask when I don't see anyone else around.

"How much for you to suck my dick for a few hours? A hundred? Two?"

My jaw hits the ground. "You're crazy, man. I don't do that."

"Oh, c'mon! Kid like you, dressed like that, standing on this corner on _Freemont Street_. What else is a man to think?"

Dressed like… I look down at my jeans, boots, t-shirt, and jacket. I look just like every other kid my age. "Man, I don't know what you think I'm dressed as, but I am not a prostitute. Now leave me alone before I find a cop and report your ass for soliciting a minor."

"Little tip, kid? You'll make more money if you're not so fucking choosy." He frowns at me but does turn and walk away.

I shake my head and make my way back to the motel where Laura and I are living. And find her exiting the bathroom in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, toweling off her hair. "Aren't you supposed to be on shift until morning?"

"Yeah, about that…"

"You got fired, didn't you?"

Laura has refused to let me get a job so that I can study which means she has to take easy to get jobs. Only problem is those jobs are usually in trashy diners with the worst patrons. Most of the time she gets fired for decking some guy who has the audacity to slap her ass as she passes his booth. Once she broke the nose of her boss when he told her he'd up her pay if she let him bend her over his desk.

She has managed to keep this job for the entire time we've been in Vegas and I'm proud of her for that.

"What happened this time?"

"Remember Mandy?" I nod. "Couple of truckers got handsy with her."

"Oh, Laura. Tell me they're still alive."

She shrugs. "They were when I left, though they probably wish they weren't."

I sink slowly down onto my bed. "What did you do?"

"Broke the hand of one and I think I broke the nose of the other."

"Laura, one of these days you're gonna get arrested for assault."

"I walked out before they could fire me. Mandy left too. Turns out Chad had been harassing her since she started but she needed the job."

"So what's she gonna do?" Laura sighs. "How much did you give her?"

"About half. We have enough to pay through tonight if we leave now."

I don't say anything, just get up and start packing my stuff.

"By the way, where have you been?"

"Went to Freemont Street."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. It is exactly as rumored." She frowns at me. "Had a guy ask me how much to suck his dick."

"How much was he offering?"

"Laura! I am not a prostitute. And even if I was inclined to turn tricks, it definitely wouldn't be with a man!"  
= = = =  
Laura doesn't seem to be in any hurry to get to New York so we spend a lot of time hitting any tourist spot that interests us and only stay in one place when we need money or the car breaks down.

I finally convince her that we'll save money faster if I also get a job. She insists that I not get one in customer service. And that's how I find myself standing on a construction site talking to a mountain of a man.

"Shouldn't you be in school?"

"I'm eighteen, sir." Lie. I won't be eighteen for over a year.

"Uh-huh. You got ID that proves that?"

"I can get some."

He shakes his head. "Sorry, kid. Law says you got to be eighteen to work in construction. I ain't looking to be fined by the state of Texas. Come back once you're officially eighteen."

"But I have lots of experience."

"Don't care. Now get off my job site." He shoos me away and turns to yell obscenities at his men.

I return to our motel, dejected, and still smarting from the rejection.

Laura finds me staring up at the ceiling when she gets home from her job.

"I know you like working construction, but maybe you should try a library or bookstore."She sits down on the bed at my feet.

"You told me to stay away from customer service jobs."

"I meant fast food or some other restaurant type job."She pinches my toes through my socks. I kick my feet at her, accidentally making contact with her shoulder.

"Alright, that does it!" She pounces and before long we're rolling on the floor, engaged in an intense tickle battle; one that I finally concede to her when I can't take it anymore.

That night I have trouble sleeping as I think about her advice about working at the library. It was well known within our family that I love to read so I don't know why I didn't think to look for a job at a bookstore or the library.

The next morning I head to the local library. Even if they don't need help, I can get help studying for the GED and maybe finally take it so I can get that out of the way.

Walking into the library, I head straight for the main desk where a pretty older woman is checking in returned books.

"Hi!" I give her my best smile. If I've learned nothing else over the past year, it's that people find me desirable, especially adults, and I am not above using that to my advantage when necessary.

The woman, her name tag reads Vanessa, looks up and blinks at me through a curtain of dark blonde hair that completely covers the left side of her face. "Hello. How may I assist you?"

"I was wondering if you might need some help. I'll do anything that needs to be done, work as many or as few hours as you have available, and for minimum wage." I tilt my head down and give what I hope is my best 'I'm a good boy' look.

"Oh, um…" Her heart starts beating faster and I can smell her arousal. Tucking my chin a bit further into my chest, I hide my smirk because I know I have her. "I can only give you about ten hours a week and most of that will be on Saturdays."

Raising my head, I give her my full smile. "That's perfect! I can start whenever you want me to."

"Oh, well…" She bites her lower lip. "How about now?" She throws a look over to a table where three teenage boys are harassing a girl. They may be talking quietly but I can still hear what they're saying and I'm surprised the girl hasn't punched them or gotten up and walked away yet.

"Want me…" I flick my head in their direction. Vanessa nods, a look of relief crossing her face.

I approach the table and tap the shoulder of the one who seems to be the leader.

"What?" He spins in his chair, obviously expecting Vanessa. He huffs a laugh. "Beat it, dude. This one's taken." He makes the mistake of turning back and talking shit about me to his friends.

I tap him on the shoulder again. When he spins back around, I don't let him speak, just grab a fistful of the front of his shirt and lift him bodily from his chair. "I don't think the lady wants your attention. You and your friends are making everyone here uncomfortable so I suggest you leave. Now. And be glad Vanessa hasn't called the police."

At the mention of the police, Douchebag's expression turns from scared to smug. "She wouldn't dare. My father's the sheriff."

I just raise one eyebrow. "Is that so?" He nods. "So he approves of you harassing young women in the library?" When Douchebag doesn't answer, I say over my shoulder, "Hey, Vanessa? Why don't you go ahead and call his dad up? I'd like to see his opinion on his son's behavior."

"No, please." He starts struggling. "I lied, okay? My dad runs the motor pool for the sheriff's department. He'd kill me if he knew I was acting like this."

"Thought so." I lean him over so he's facing the girl he was harassing. "Tell her what an idiot you are and promise to never bother her again."

"Sorry I'm such an idiot. I swear I won't even look your way, Victoria."

Victoria smiles shyly. "That's fine, Richard. What about your friends?"

Richard looks at his friends. "Guys!" he prompts when they don't respond right away. They all nod and make noises of consent. 

"Very well. You may put him down now." Victoria flicks her fingers regally.

I set Richard back on his feet and tug on his shirt to smooth out the wrinkles. "Have a nice day."

Richard doesn't even wait for his friends, just turns tail and runs from the library. Once the three of them have left, the three of us share a laugh.

"Thank you,…" Victoria holds out her hand for me to shake.

"Derek." I lightly clasp her hand and know that if Vanessa hadn't caught my attention first, I'd be tripping all over myself for Victoria.

"Well, Derek, thank you. And now I must go." She stands up and begins putting her books back in her bag. "See you around, I hope." With a tiny wave of her fingers, she leaves the library.

"Thank you, Derek." Vanessa approaches where I'm still standing with a stack of papers in her hand.

"Sure," I reply with a shrug. "But why didn't you threaten to call his dad?"

She sighs. "I didn't think of that one. I used to threaten to tell his mom but she ran off a couple of years ago. I really thought it was because the dad was as bad as the son but now I'm wondering if that assumption was wrong."

A little over two weeks later, I'm sitting at a table in a back corner trying to wrap my head around a math problem in the GED test prep book.

"Derek?" Vanessa sits down across from me. "Honey, it's your day off. Why're you here?"

"Laura's trying to sleep and she said I breathe too loud when I get frustrated. Since I need to study, she told me to come here."

"Study?" Vanessa reaches over and lifts the front of the book so she can read the title. "Oh! I was wondering why you never mention school."

I nod, knowing she's waiting for some kind of story, but it's still too fresh so all I say is, "Laura and I move around too much for me to go to school. Figured I should get this taken care of."

"Yes, a GED is a very useful thing to have." Placing one hand over mine, she says, "I can help you study."

I know I used her attraction to me to get this job but I'm not sure I want to get involved with another adult woman. But she could mean that literally, that she _just_ wants to tutor me for the GED test.

I smile at her. "Sure, I'd like that."

Her face lights up. "Excellent." Pulling a notepad and pen from her sweater pocket, she scribbles something dawn, rips the page off, and hands it to me. "Here's my address. Let's say, 7 tomorrow night? I'll cook. What's your favorite meal?"

My brain short circuits. "Uh, spaghetti," I say the first thing that comes to mind.

"Perfect! I have an awesome recipe for that. Oh, and garlic bread, too." She stands up. "Oh, and spend your day off doing something fun!" She pulls the book from under my hands and walks away.

When I arrive at Vanessa's house, we don't even make it to the bedroom. Or the dining room, for that matter. The dress she's wearing isn't even remotely what I'd call sexy but there's just something about her tonight that makes it impossible for me to not lean in and kiss her.

Later, while cuddling in her bed, she admits that she was a virgin and had begun to think she'd die without ever having sex. I close my eyes and roll her over so I can love her all over again.

I expect her to want sex all time after that but she doesn't. What she wants most is to just make out and have me eat her out in the employee bathroom multiple times a day. It helps that she always wears a skirt and has stopped wearing ones that go to the floor. It's almost as if my attentions have awakened the sexual creature that lives inside her. She still doesn't tie her hair back and gets agitated when I try to tuck the strands behind her ear. But she no longer looks at people's chins when talking to them. The regular patrons have started making comments about how she seems much more confident and there's a pool going as to who her secret boyfriend is.

"Derek," Laura calls me from her room, we actually rented a small apartment this time, a week before my eighteenth birthday. "You're taking the GED test today, right?"

"Yeah. Why?" I lean against the door frame, munching on a bowl of Grape Nuts.

"Put in your notice when you get to the library. We're leaving next week."

I choke on my bite. "What? Why?" She shrugs and I narrow my eyes on her face. She had managed to get a temp job as a data entry clerk for some lawyer this time. "Did you get fired again?"

She rolls her eyes. "No. You know I want to go to Columbia. Can't do that from Texas."

"Ugh, fine!" I slurp the milk from my bowl. "But I'm taking the car today." Being Saturday she doesn't need to go to work but she still screeches her displeasure at me leaving her stranded for the day.

After the test, I'm on my knees sucking on Vanessa's clit and fucking her with three fingers. She comes hard and pulls me by the hair from between her legs. "I think four is enough this time, don't you?" I just smirk at the breathy quality of her voice.

Standing up, I wipe my chin with the back of my hand then suck my fingers clean. "If you say so." Leaning in, I lick my way into her mouth, sharing her taste with her. "I'm so gonna miss this," I mutter against her lips when we pull back to breathe.

She blinks and pushes me back. "What?"

Sighing, I turn to the toilet and jerk off quickly. First time I did it she turned to face the wall, the skin of her neck bright red. But now she just leans against the wall and watches. "Yeah." I wash my hands after tucking myself back into my pants. "Laura told me today that we're leaving next week."

"Oh." Vanessa pouts and it's nearly as adorable as when Emily would do it. "I guess it was too much to hope that you'd be around forever."

"Yeah, sorry." 

I run the fingers of my right hand down the hair covering the left side of her face, moving it aside so I can see her. She allows it for a moment longer than usual before she's batting my hand away and finger combing her hair back into place.

As much as I want to see all of her, I know she is self-conscious about her looks for some reason. So instead of trying again, like I usually do, I lean in and rub my nose against hers. 

"I want to fuck you again. Will you let me? Maybe next Friday night? I could probably stay the night if you wanted."

"Yeah, okay."

"Okay."

We share one last kiss before exiting the bathroom and returning to work.

Friday night, I teach her everything I know, and she teaches me that even virginal librarians are researchers at heart and know how to look up porn.

In the early hours of the morning of my seventeenth birthday, I find myself wishing that the beast inside me agreed about this woman that I have chosen to share a bed with. I can definitely see myself spending the rest of my life with Vanessa, watching her belly grow round with my pups. But it's not meant to be and just a few hours before the sun comes up, I'm standing on Vanessa's front porch kissing her good-bye while Laura sits in the car revving the engine, trying to get me to get my ass in the car.

"Care to explain what was so special about her?" Laura asks when I climb into the car.

"She saw me for me? All she wanted was a friend? I found her beautiful."

"You seriously telling me you didn't see that big ass scar running down the left side of her face?"

"What?" I actually turn in my seat as if I can still see Vanessa.

"Yeah, it starts just above the bridge of her nose, almost exactly center between her eyebrows, curves down along the left side of her nose, under her left eye, and then continues down the center of her left cheek to her jaw. Looks like it happened when she was a kid."

"Well, that explains why I wasn't ever able to push her hair out of her face." I turn to frown at Laura. "How'd you see it?"

"Caught her at the hair dressers. She always sits in the last chair on the right so that people can only see the right side of her face but I was coming back from the bathroom when her stylist was cutting the hair on the left. From the looks of it, she's lucky she didn't lose her eye."

"I still think she's beautiful."

"If you think she's beautiful, then she's beautiful," Laura says with a shrug.  
= = = =  
"I thought you wanted to attend Columbia," I say to Laura as we're escorted into what can only be described as a throne room, complete with an overly ornate throne. 

"I do."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't it be an easier commute if we actually live in New York?"

She sighs and pulls me to a stop with one hand on my arm. "New York is expensive. And so is Columbia. I need to save some money. To do that we need to live where it's not so expensive. And to do that we need permission from the local Alpha."

"How come we have to do that now when we didn't before?"

"Derek, I've gone before the Alpha in each place we lived and requested temporary residence. This is just the first time they've demanded you come, too."

"Why now?"

She shrugs. "I figure if we do as instructed, we'll find out." And with that she pulls me the rest of the way inside the room, stopping with the tips of her shoes just barely touching a line on the floor.

"Ah, Laura and Derek Hale." It doesn't escape my notice that the pervy looking Alpha sitting on the chair on the small dais fails to give Laura her proper title. "My deepest sympathies over the loss of your Pack." He places one hand over his heart and bows his head.

Laura bows her head as well. "Thank you, Alpha Givens."

"You are more than welcome to join my Pack." He flicks his gaze to me and gives me a once over that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. "Your brother may continue to call you Alpha, but he will obey my orders over yours."

"Thank you, Alpha, but we will not be here for more than a year or two."

His smile has the beast's hackles raising and a growl starting deep in his throat. "We'll see about that."

"I don't think you understand, Alpha-" Laura begins but he cuts her off.

"Oh, but I think it's _you_ who doesn't understand." He waves one hand and a man steps forward from the shadows. "Travis here will show your brother to the rooms the two of you will be sharing and you and I will discuss my plans for the both of you."

I start to step forward, Mom taught us to obey all Alphas unless the order would put us in danger. Laura stops me with one hand to my chest. "I have plans for my brother and as his Alpha, mine take precedence."

He chuckles. "That is something we will discuss." He nods his head. "Leave. Now."

"Derek has a say in the plans I have for him."

"But not in mine." He lowers his head, looking at us through his lashes, and the sharp scent of anger grows heavy in the air. "He leaves this room, now."

I place one hand gently on the small of Laura's back. "It's okay. I'll go, my Alpha." I look Laura in the eye as I say 'my Alpha'. The knowledge of why I said those words is in her eyes. And it is with sudden clarity that I understand why our father used to call our mother that. It may have started as a way to inform others that he saw his Mate as his Alpha, but it quickly became a term of endearment; one that comforted them both.

"Behave," Laura says, raising her eyebrows when I step around her to follow Travis from the room.

"I could say the same to you." She just flips me off and I hear Alpha Givens mutter something about siblings.

The room that Travis takes me to isn't much bigger than any of the motel rooms we've lived in these past eleven months. In fact, it just might even be smaller than most of them.

On the wall opposite the door, is a window flanked by two twin beds with two nightstands pushed together directly under the window. There are two doors, one on each of the two remaining walls. The one to my left, behind the main door, leads into the tiny bathroom which holds a pedestal sink with a smallish mirror, a toilet, and a shower stall so small there is no room for anyone bigger than Laura to properly bathe. The other door is a small walk-in closet.

I look through every drawer in the place, not that there are many, and find absolutely nothing, not even a piece of scrap paper. It's also no use looking out the window because it faces a grey brick building on the other side of an alley encased in shadows.

With nothing to occupy my time, I lie down on one of the beds and stare at the ceiling. I'm on the verge of sleep when the door crashes open and I find myself blinking up at Laura.

"Grab your stuff. We're leaving." She doesn't even wait for me, just turns and rushes back out.

"Derek!" Her head pops back around the door frame. "Let's go!"

Wiping sleep from my eyes, I get to my feet and shoulder my duffle. "What's going on?"

She stomps back into the room to grab my sleeve and drag me along behind her. "What part of 'we're leaving' don't you understand?"

"The Alpha's just letting us leave?"

"Basically."

I dig my heels in and force her to come to a halt. "Basically yes or basically no?"

"Derek," she hisses, looking around frantically. "We don't have time for this."

"Give me some answers, Laura. I think I've been pretty patient with you this past year but I'm getting tired of following with no explanation of why."

She growls and rolls her eyes. "I seriously disagree with his plans for us. When I told him no, he said I could either do as he wants or we can leave. Tonight, right now."

"What does he want?"

She shakes her head and tugs on my arm again. "Trust me when I say, you don't want to know."

"Laura!" I pull back and force her to stop, again.

This time when she turns to face me her eyes are ringed in red. "We were given a very finite amount of time to get out and if we're still here when that time runs out, we're fair game to his men."

"Fair game as in…"

She runs one thumb along her neck and makes a face. "So, can we, _please_ , get the fuck outta Dodge, now?"

"Uh, yeah." This time, I grab her arm as I take off running for the exit.

A few hours later we're in an apartment building just six blocks from where the World Trade Center once stood. The door at the end of the hall opens as we approach and a woman about our mother's age with curly hair exits. She smiles at us before poking her head back inside and informing whoever is inside that we're here.

"Go on in. He's been waiting for you."

"Thank you," Laura says, returning the woman's smile.

I follow Laura into the apartment and shut the door behind us before turning and looking around. The apartment is much larger than I expected for Manhattan. But the building is obviously a repurposed warehouse and that is probably why it's so big. 

To the right of the front door is the living room area, complete with overstuffed leather couches facing a large flat screen mounted on the wall. Directly opposite the door are large floor to ceiling windows overlooking a small park area. To the left is the kitchen area and that is where our host can be found.

"Welcome, Alpha Hale and Beta Hale." He endears himself to me by using Laura's title. "How do you like your eggs? And please don't try to decline, I'm hungry and I hate to eat alone."

Laura takes a seat on one of the bar stools at the large island and looks over her shoulder at me until I join her. "Sunny side up," she says.

"Over easy," I add my order to Laura's.

Our host smiles at us. "Coming right up." He turns back to the stove. "Please help yourself to juice and fruit while you wait."

Laura pours us both a glass of juice and puts some fruit on two plates. We've only had a couple of bites when our host turns back around with two plates on which sit two perfectly cooked eggs just how we ordered them along with toast and bacon. He sets the plates in front of us then picks up a third plate piled high with scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast.

Laura and I take a bite of our eggs and mine all but melt in my mouth. He cooked it just like my mom used to.

"Alpha-" Laura starts but I can tell she either doesn't know his name or she forgot it.

He grins at her. "Danny Messer."

Laura nods. "Alpha Messer-" Again she tries to get the conversation going.

"Not while we're eating, please."

Before Laura can respond, a tall man about the same age as Alpha Messer comes into the kitchen from what is obviously the bedroom, carrying a toddler who is whining softly. "Excuse us," he says, heading straight for the fridge.

He takes a bottle out and the toddler on his hip reaches for it, the whine getting louder. "At least let me get the lid off, first." Alpha Messer has to help him take off the lid because the toddler is squirming too much. The bottle is then snatched out of his hand by the toddler who then shoves it into their mouth. "You'll have to excuse her, she's teething and hasn't slept much lately." The toddler has her head tipped back, her eyes closed, and is running the fingers of her free hand through the hair on the back of the man's head.

"Don't forget you can put Orajel on her gums more often than you can give her Tylenol." Alpha Messer runs one hand over her head and kisses her ear, then kisses the man on the lips.

"I would if she'd let me. Every time I stick my finger in her mouth to do that, she bites me!"

Messer laughs. "She doesn't have very many teeth. How much could it hurt?"

"Under her gums is _bone_ , Daniel. And the Human jaw is capable of biting through a _finger bone_ so just imagine how much force a teething Were toddler can exert."

Messer kisses the toddler again. "Are you trying to eat your Pops, hm?" 

Then with another kiss to the man, he shoos them back to where they came from. "Go on, now. I'll be in soon with something she can gum to death."

"Humph." The man frowns but leaves the kitchen.

"Sorry. My Mate and our daughter. You'd think this was her first tooth with the way he acts."

"Your Mate is a man." Laura says what we're both thinking.

"Will it be an issue?"

We share a look. "No, Alpha Messer. We've just never met an Alpha Mated to someone of the same gender."

"It was a surprise when my wolf chose Don. But I couldn't be happier."

The three of us finish our food in silence, then once the dishes are in the dishwasher, he escorts us to the couches.

"First, please call me Danny." We both nod our understanding. "Second, I think you'll find I'm an easy Alpha to get along with. I stay out of my Beta's lives as much as possible; so long as they don't earn me any new enemies or bring us to the attention of the local police."

He sits back and crosses one knee over the other. "We help each other in every way needed. If you want to go to school, we can help keep you from having to take out a loan. Having financial issues that're preventing you from paying some or all of your bills? Just ask and someone will be happy to help. We can also help you find a job if you're having trouble getting one on your own."

"I have plans for Derek's future," Laura says.

"That's great. As his Alpha it is your place to decide those things. I do not have any plans for either of you. If you would like my advice on your plans, I am more than willing to offer some. But other than that-" He shrugs. "-it's all you."

Laura deflates enough to sit back, her shoulder brushing mine. "Alpha Givens-" She begins but Danny speaks over her.

"Is a disgrace to the title 'Alpha' and should be put down. He did call me to warn that you are stubborn and refuse to bare your neck to an older Alpha. I tried to explain that the Pack you come from is much more powerful than his, so you actually outrank him. He wouldn't hear it."

"Yeah, I think he had thought he could raise his status by being the Alpha that Alpha's the Hale Pack Alpha."

Danny chuckles. "He probably did. But since I'm the Alpha for the east coast, that status would have gone to me, not him. I can probably guess what he wanted for his protection and if you're anything like your mother, which you so obviously are since you're here and not there, you told him where to shove it and booked it outta there."

Laura's smile reminds me of Peter's. I shiver just thinking about him. "What he wanted from us is just disgusting. I would never in a million years give him that."

Danny nods. "I am discussing with the Council how to replace him without causing a war among my Packs. So far the only option seems to be to find someone I trust to challenge him and hopefully win." He winces at a loud screech coming from the bedroom area. "You wouldn't be interested, would you?"

Laura laughs. "I have too much to learn about being an Alpha still to even think of having more than just Derek as a beta."

Danny makes a face. "Of course. Had to ask." Another screech followed by the crash of something large and breakable has all three of us looking in the direction of the bedroom.

 _"We're okay!"_ The words are barely heard over the screaming of a very angry, and probably overly tired, toddler.

"I'll see if Stella can come back to show you to your temporary residence. It's yours for no more than three months. That should be more than enough time to find an apartment that suits your needs."

_"Danny!"_

"If you'll excuse me." Danny stands and pulls his phone from his pocket while making his way to the bedroom.  
= = = =  
Laura finds a job as a data entry clerk for a law firm about a week later and we rent an apartment a few blocks from a subway station that will take her directly to her office about a month after that.

She also begins taking night classes at Columbia with plans to take more once she has more money saved up.

After a while, something starts to nag at me but I'm not sure what it is. Laura notices and forces me to sit and talk.

"What has you so antsy, Derek?"

"I'm not sure. I feel like it's _right there_ -" I make a motion in the air near my head. "-but every time I try to pull it forward, it slips away." I suck on my bottom lip. "I think it has something to do with the fire?"

"The insurance money," she says and a light goes off in my head.

"Yes! That's it!"

She nods. "I had Mom's lawyer deposit it into the bank then I opened three new accounts and divided it three ways."

"But Cora…"

"We don't know that. When I called to tell Mom I might not make it to the moon run, Cora said she might be going out with friends. Of course, Mom said she wasn't but-" She shrugs.

I nod. "So why not use your part for school?"

Laura sighs heavily. "Because it doesn't feel right to use it at all. I mean, three hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money, and would pay for most of my tuition but…" She trails off and shrugs again.

"I get it, I do. I probably won't use mine for school either. Maybe for some investments? Something to help save for the future."

"Sounds good, little bro. I'll get you that information tomorrow, 'kay?" When I nod, she stands up and kisses my cheek on her way to her bedroom. "Lock up, would ya?"  
= = = =  
I have been looking for a job since we settled in New York but unlike Laura, I haven't had much luck. I tried construction but New York is a unionized city and it's extremely difficult to get into one of the construction unions without knowing someone.

Then, one day about three months after we first arrived in the city, I walk into a bookstore and get hit in the face by the tail end of a chaotic afternoon.

"Hi!" a frazzled voice greets from the other side of a bookshelf that has books piled every which way on it. "Please excuse the mess! We just had a birthday party that ran long along with a totally unexpected rush."

A man a few years older than myself steps out from behind the bookshelf, one hand extended. "I'm Trevor. Welcome to Turn the Page! How may I assist you, today?"

Trevor is about four inches taller than me with light brown hair and dark blue eyes that look black in the right light. When our hands touch, I feel a zing along my nerve endings that ends in my groin. I have never felt attraction for a man like this before.

"Hi. Derek. And I could ask you the same question."

With a frown, he looks around. "Oh!" His face lights up. "Because it's a disaster. Yes. Of course." He chuckles. "Well, my assistant did decide to quit today of all days. And she didn't even have the decency to call me. Or give notice. When I called her she had the audacity to be offended that I woke her sorry ass up!" He looks at me with both brows raised. "The bitch," he mutters, shaking his head.

"What a bitch." I agree with him. "Tell me you were about to fire her ass anyway."

He winces. "Wish I could. But truth is, I really need help around here."

"I've never worked in a bookstore but I did spend three months working at a library in Texas."

"Oh! That's great. Only difference between a bookstore and a library is that with a bookstore they get to keep the book."

"I'm willing to learn if you're willing to teach me."

"Am I ever!" He looks around at the carnage that was probably once a very tidy store. "How about I close early, best thing about being the boss, and we can clean this place up while we chat, kinda like an interview, and then we'll fill out your paperwork?"

"Sounds great. Let me call my sister and tell her to not expect me home anytime soon."

Trevor, along with Laura, convinces me to apply to college. I decide on City College with a major in Architecture and a minor in English Lit. Trevor is very accommodating and allows me to take as many classes as I can. To thank him, I work as often as I can which isn't nearly as often as he truly needs me to.

We've been in New York for three years now and Laura is getting ready to start law school. Most days I don't think about the fire, although I do think about Mom often. Then there are the days when I wake up screaming from a nightmare. They're always the same: I'm standing in the tunnel with a torch in one hand. Kate approaches and tells me to do it; to throw the torch and free myself from my wicked past. I always wake up just as Mom's hair catches fire.

It's one of the bad days and I have to work a double. The extra help Trevor hired for the summer needed the weekend off for some family thing and I don't have any classes for once.

"Derek?" Trevor catches me in the break room during my lunch. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be? Did you get any complaints?" I had gotten snippy with one of those customers who thinks they're always right, even when they know they couldn't possibly be.

"No. You just look like something's bothering you."

"Didn't sleep well last night."

He nods. "Okay. I can close early if you need to take off."

"Trevor, you can't just close up whenever I'm having a bad day. It's not good for business."

He shrugs. "It's my shop. I don't really feel like being here alone and you look like you need to get drunk."

I chuckle at his words. I probably do need to get drunk but as a Wolf, I can't. "Not old enough to drink, yet."

"Eh. Who's gonna tell? You? Certainly not me."

"Thanks for the offer." The little bell over the door rings, alerting us that we have a customer. "But we have a customer." I walk back out to the front before he can say anything else.

Business picks up after that and before I know it, it's closing time. Turing the sign and locking the door is always a great feeling and tonight it's the best yet. Trevor pitches in and soon we've got the store put to rights and are in the office in the back, counting down the tills.

"Despite hating every second I wasn't at home in my bed, I think today went well."

"It did indeed." He fills out the deposit slip and puts all the receipts and cash into the deposit bag, zips it closed, and locks it.

Then my phone beeps, alerting me that I have a new email. Earlier in the week, I took a test in my math class, my least favorite as well as my worst class, and have been waiting for the results; I'm nearly positive I failed it. And it just so happens to be a test that I cannot afford to fail because my grade is already so low that I need to get at least an A- to keep from failing the class.

I open the email, read the contents, frown down at the screen, rub my eyes, and read it again. "Tell me I'm seeing things." I hand my phone to Trevor.

He takes it and reads the email, a slow smile stretching his lips wide. "You got an A, my dude!"

"No…" I collapse into the chair behind me. "No…"

"Yes!" He pulls me to my feet and hugs me. "You fucking passed, man!"

The shock begins to slowly wear off and I'm hugging him back. "I cannot believe I fucking passed!"

Trevor pulls back, smiling down at me. And then he's kissing me. And then I'm kissing him back. I've been on a few dates since Vanessa, but I haven't had sex since that last night in Texas. And kissing Trevor is so very different than I expected it to be. And, yes, I have thought about it. I've thought about it a lot. Hell, I've jerked off thinking about kissing him. And now I am and it is so much better than I could have ever imagined.

When his hand presses against the bulge in my pants, I just push into his grip, silently giving him permission to continue. He slowly opens my belt and then starts toying with the button and zipper. To get him moving faster, I pop the button myself and tug on one side of my now open fly to get the zipper to lower. He chuckles into my mouth. "Eager little brat, ain't ya?"

"You have any idea how long it's been since I've had sex?"

"Not exactly, no, but I can guess."

"Just over two years. Two fucking years, man. And I've never with a guy."

My little pronouncement has him stepping out of my arms. "You're a virgin?"

"Is it a problem?" I start putting my clothes to rights; fully expecting him to tell me to go home.

"No. This just calls for a change of venue, is all."

"What?" 

"I refuse to let your first time be on top of my desk. We're going to my place. Call Laura and tell her you're coming to stay the night. Make up something about being too tired to take the subway and since my place is closer…"

"Well, it is somewhat true." I shrug. I am still tired, not enough to not want to get my brains fucked out, though.

I text Laura that after having had a shitty day, Trevor has insisted I stay at his place instead of risking falling asleep on the subway. Her reply informs me she knows I'm lying but knows that if I want to tell her the real reason, I will and in my own time.

"Well," I say when Trevor gives me a questioning look. "I am officially not fooling her. Which is a surprise because until you kissed me, I didn't know I was into guys."

He laughs. "Oh, you're serious." He winces when I just stare at him. "You really didn't know?" I shake my head. "How could you not? I've seen you watching me. Surely there were crushes in the past."

I shrug. "I always thought it was just admiration for someone smarter or more athletic than me. The little thrill I got when we shook hands that first day didn't even truly register as attraction."

"Huh." He locks the door behind us and turns to head toward his apartment a couple of blocks away. "Well, this weekend we are going to fully explore your attraction to me and see where that leads us."

The smile he gives me has my dick twitching in interest. "Sounds good to me."

Twenty minutes later we're standing in his bedroom and for the second time in my life, I'm at a loss as to if I should undress myself or the person I'm with.

"Relax, Derek." He steps closer and cups my face in one hand. "We don't have to do anything you don't want to do. If all you want is mutual hand jobs, then that's all we'll do." Tilting my face, he leans down and brushes my lips with his.

"Fuck that," I mutter, grabbing his shirt in my fists and pulling him closer so I can lick my way into his mouth.

With a moan, he slips his hands under my shirt. A shiver courses through me at the heat of his palms against the bare skin of my abdomen. The beast grumbles but doesn't try and push to the surface. I guess he's gotten used to me choosing sexual partners that he doesn't approve of.

With a tug to the fabric in my grasp, I get his shirt off over his head and that kicks things into high gear and before I know it we're naked and falling onto the bed in a tangle of arms and legs.

I'm only vaguely aware of him pulling something from a bedside drawer. It isn't until I feel something pressing against my ass, in fact. At the probing, I stiffen and push him back. "What-?"

He blinks down at me. "Want me to stop?"

I push him back some more so I can look down between us and discover it's one of his fingers that's pressing against me. "Um…"

"Do you want to top? I'm okay with that."

"Um…" I seem to have lost the ability to speak.

He smiles. "Let's pause and talk about what's going to happen." He reaches over me to grab a tissue to wipe his hand on, then moves to sit leaning against the headboard.

I push myself up and pull a pillow onto my lap, hiding my deflated erection. And get a look at him in all his naked glory. And can't help comparing him to the naked men I've seen over the years, namely the men of my Pack but I have seen my teammates naked in the locker room. He is larger than the Humans I played ball with but smaller than the men of my Pack.

"Am I the first naked guy you've seen outside of porn?"

"No. I played basketball in high school. We had to shower after practice and games."

He nods. "You ever watch pron where two guys fuck?"

I shake my head. "I go for guy on girl or girl on girl."

"Okay. So, since you know the basics of penetrative sex, dick in pussy, I'm sure you can guess where the dick goes when it's two guys."

"Yeah. But I'm trying to not think about it."

He laughs. "With enough prep, it won't hurt much or for long."

"I've only had a doctor's finger in there for the required physical before playing each season."

"That's more than most guys when they have sex with another guy for the first time." He puts his left hand on my right knee. "Derek, I meant what I said. If you're not one hundred percent into this…"

"I want to be." I chew my bottom lip. "Is it bad that I'm not sure?"

"Absolutely not. Considering that up until this point, you thought you were straight. So let's slow it down."

I nod. "Yeah. Let's do that." I put my hand on his where it's resting on my knee and move it up my thigh.

"You sure about this, Hale?"

"You'll stop if I say to, right?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm sure." And with that, I lean forward to capture his mouth with mine again.

I have loved kissing since Paige and I shared my first kiss and can honestly kiss someone for hours. As far as I'm concerned, kissing is far more intimate than any sex act. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they kiss. Paige's kisses were shy, almost hesitant. Emily's were a lot more aggressive, as if she felt she had something to prove. Kate's were almost nonexistent. Now that I know who she is, I understand why she refused to kiss me. Vanessa's kisses were a combination of Paige's and Emily's. But Trevor's… Trevor's are lazy and very casual. He kisses me as if we've been in a relationship for years; they're very comfortable and soothing. They feel like coming home. Makes me wonder what it'll feel like to kiss my Mate. 

By unspoken agreement, we move until we're lying on our sides, facing each other. Exceedingly gently, he runs one finger along my left eyebrow and down my left cheek. "I have wanted you here since the day you walked into my shop."

My heart speeds up and my breath catches in my throat at his words. Last time I truly felt wanted was with Paige. Sure Emily was always eager to get naked, and Vanessa loved my mouth on her pussy, neither of them made me feel like they just wanted to be with me. Not like Paige and Trevor.

Very slowly, I run my left hand up his right thigh to his hip and then along his abdomen, stopping just shy of his dick. "Please touch me, Derek," he breathes against my lips.

I close my fingers around him, amazed at how different, and yet similar, it is to my own. Like most Humans, he's circumcised so there is no foreskin to play with, but other than that, the only true difference is that the angle feels all wrong.

Trevor lies there on his side, nibbling on my lips, occasionally pressing kisses to my jaw, and resting his right hand on my left hip while I get used to having my hand on another man's dick. 

"Take your time, Derek. We have all night," Trevor whispers into my ear.

The feeling of his warm breath washing over my skin has me panting and my dick taking a renewed interest in what's currently happening. Tightening my grip, I begin to stroke him with a bit more purpose. His breath hitches and his fingers tighten on my hip, his nails digging into my skin.

"I guess I'm doing this right." A small laugh bubbles up at the soft growl that leaves his throat.

Slowly, I start to stroke him faster and his hips make little aborted movements like he wants to thrust but doesn't want to interrupt my exploration. The sounds coming from his throat spur me on and I tighten my grip even more and start stroking him even faster.

I'm so caught up in the feeling of his dick in my hand, the scent of his arousal in my nose, and his sounds of pleasure ringing in my ears, that I fail to notice how close he's getting until he grabs my wrist and pulls my hand away.

"Don't want this to end so soon," he explains when I make a questioning noise.

Rolling to his back, he pulls me with him so that I'm lying on top of him. I brace myself with my hands on either side of his head and look down into eyes so full of arousal and lust that it makes my head spin. I don't think I have ever seen such an all-encompassing look of want on someone before. And the fact that it's _me_ he wants is mind blowing.

Leaning down, I lick my way into his mouth and go in search of his tonsils. I am determined to have either his dick in my ass or mine in his before I leave this apartment tomorrow. I start rolling my hips against his, doing my best to get over the fact that my naked dick is touching his naked dick.

And then all thoughts fly out of my head when his hands settle on my ass and squeeze. Pulling back, I stare down at him. "Do that again."

He smirks up at me and does as I requested. "Like that, huh?"

I lick my bottom lip and make a decision that I refuse to ever regret. "I want you to fuck me, Trevor."

"You sure?" I nod. "Okay. There are two positions that will make it less painful."

"They are?"

"This one." He lifts his hips, making my legs fall to either side. "And you on your hands and knees.."

"Which do you prefer?"

"Well, I like watching the face of my partner while I fuck them, especially the first time." He runs one finger along my eyebrow again.

"Then this one, it is."

From somewhere in the rumpled covers, he produces the lube bottle and condom. He lays the condom on his chest and flicks open the lube. "Remember, Hale, there is no such thing as too much lube," he says, squirting a generous amount on his finger. "Up." He taps me on the hip.

I go up onto my knees and he reaches between my legs and behind my balls. Holding my gaze with his, he takes one of my hands in his free one just before rubbing his lube coated finger against my hole. It still feels weird but I'm more prepared for it this time and let him do what he needs to do.

"I'm going to start pressing it inside, now. Try to not tense up, okay?" I nod, taking deep breaths and telling myself to stay relaxed.

He starts pressing harder with each circle he makes with his fingers and before long he has his index finger inside me up to the first knuckle.

"Breathe, Derek." He tugs on my hand until I lean down enough for him to kiss me. The change in angle has him slipping in a bit more.

"Trevor." I can feel panic building. He shushes me and starts thrusting his finger in and out. 

When I start lowering myself to meet his upward thrusts, he pulls his finger out to add more lube, and then he's pressing in with two fingers, repeating the process. He keeps to this pace until I'm fucking myself on four of his fingers, my dick slapping against my stomach with my movements.

He stops me by squeezing the hand he's still holding. "Need to get the condom on then you can get back to chasing that orgasm."

Shaking my hand free, I snatch the condom off his chest and tear it open. He slips his fingers from my ass when I stand up on my knees. I feel so empty but know that soon I'll be full again.

I can barely get the condom on him, my hands are shaking so badly with the need to have him inside me. He grabs my hips when I go to impale myself. "Slowly, Derek." I frown down at him. "Don't want to hurt you. I may have had four fingers in you just now but if you go too fast this first time, you could still do some damage."

With a slight nod, to show I understand, I put the tip against my hole and slowly sink down onto it. 

The pain is something I wasn't expecting because he did just spend several minutes finger fucking me. The gasp that escapes when I force the tip of his dick past the first ring of muscle has him narrowing his eyes at me. With my hands braced on his chest, I can feel the muscles bunching as he prepares to lift me off.

"No, Trevor! It's fine, I promise." With a wiggle, I get him in a little bit more. "Didn't think it'd still hurt after you fucked me with your fingers, is all."

"Hm," he hums, fingers clenching and unclenching on my hips. If I was Human, he'd be leaving bruises.

With another wiggle, I get him about halfway in. My head drops back on my neck and a long low moan of pleasure escapes my throat. "God! It feels amazing."

He chuckles and I feel it all the way up my spine. "Just wait until I'm all the way inside."

Taking a deep breath, I let myself fall the rest of the way onto his dick. The feeling of being so completely full has me panting at the ceiling for several long moments. Once I become used to it, I begin moving, slowly at first, then with more intent. Trevor brings his presence back to my attention with an upward thrust. I blink down at him. He raises one brow as if to demand I do something more than just rock back and forth.

My hands are resting on his midsection so I slide them up until I can cup his pectoral muscles, his nipples are like pebbles against my palms. I like having mine played with and want to know if other men do too.

I circle his nipples with my fingertips and he raises his chest in a silent demand for more contact. I then flick my nails against them and get a thrust of his hips. Next, I pinch them and again get a sharp hip thrust. Pinching and twisting them has him pulling me down while he thrusts up so that our skin slaps together which has my eyes rolling back in my head.

"Do that again," I say, repeating my motion.

"Oh, like it hard, do ya?"

Now that we both know at least one thing we both like, he sets about fucking me as hard as he can. I can feel his thighs pressing against my back and know he's got his feet planted on the bed to help him thrust harder into me.

My vision is starting to go white around the edges when he flips us over and plants his hands on either side of my head, his hips snapping so hard and fast, I feel a twinge in my back in sympathy.

"Touch yourself, Derek. Make yourself come."

Wrapping my legs higher around his waist, I reach between us and take my dick in my hand. Using the precome leaking from the tip, I start to stroke in time with his thrusts. Digging the fingers of my free hand into the skin of his back, I chase my orgasm, falling over the edge with a shout. I come harder and longer than I ever have in my life.

When it's over, I can still feel him moving inside me. I don't know what to do to help him come, then I remember how Emily would clench her pussy muscles when she wanted me to come. I try that and he moans deep in his throat, his thrusts stuttering. After several minutes, he starts to collapse but rolls to the side at the last second.

We lie there, side by side, panting up at the ceiling with sweat cooling on our skin. When I begin to feel sleep tugging at me, I turn my head and find his eyes closed.

"Did you really fall asleep?"

"Not yet. But I am headed that way." He opens his eyes and turns to look at me. "Are you not?"

"We should probably get cleaned up, first."

"Hm. Yes, we probably should."

"And yet neither of us is moving."

"No, we're not."

We both laugh and I roll over just enough to push him from the bed with my hands and feet before following him into the bathroom.

By the time I leave on Sunday, I know what it feels like to have another man's dick in my mouth as well as having that same man ride my cock. Until now I have never had the pleasure of waking up next to the person I've been having sex with. It is something I really want to do more often, that's for sure.

When I walk into the apartment I share with Laura, I thank my lucky stars that I always smell like Trevor. While I am not ashamed of what I spent the night, and most of the morning, doing, and most especially with whom, it's not a conversation I'm ready to have with my sister.

"Where were you?" she demands, stepping into my path. "You reek of sex so I know you weren't at Trevor's."

I raise one brow. "Oh, so now I have to get your permission to have a personal life?"

She crosses her arms over her chest and sighs. "No, but I don't appreciate being lied to."

Guess we're having this conversation now after all. "I was at Trevor's."

Her eyes go wide at the honesty in my voice. "Since when are you into men?"

I shrug. "Always was. Sorta. Trevor's just the first I've wanted to fuck." I step around her, headed for the bathroom.

"And how was it?"

Turning to face her at the door to the bathroom, I grip the door frame. "Must you know everything about my life?"

"Yes! I'm your big sister and Alpha. It's my duty to make sure you're not involved in anything that could harm the Pack." Her cheeks go red as she realizes what she just said. "Derek, I didn't-"

Stepping back, I slam the door in her face and ignore her attempts to apologize.

When I exit the bathroom and head to my bedroom, she tries again. I just pick her up and move her out of my way. She sputters and slaps at my arms and then my retreating back.

It takes nearly a month before I can look at Laura without remembering her dig about my part in our Pack being killed. Every day of that month, she tells me she's sorry for saying it; she even tries to buy my forgiveness with my favorite treats, but that just makes me even angrier. I have never been this angry with her, not even when we were kids and she'd taunt me about being second born.

Based on my previous relationships, I fully expect Trevor and I to have sex often, but we don't. He continues to see other people and yet gets pissed when I say I have a date. When I argue that we're not exclusive, he schedules me as often as my school schedule allows, which leaves me with no free time to date. So I stop telling him about my dates.

It quickly becomes obvious that Trevor is a possessive bastard and that he considers me his. I soon lose count of the number of times I get yelled at for 'flirting' with the customers when all I actually did is be friendly and helpful. And the flip side, if I _don't_ smile and be polite, I get yelled at as well.

It finally comes to a head a couple of days before Christmas, about two years after we first slept together.

I didn't sleep well last night and found out that I barely passed my math class, meaning I almost didn't graduate, something I have worked hard to do. I took summer classes so that I could get my degree sooner, and I would be devastated if I had to go for another semester just for one class.

On top of the bad mood I woke up in, Trevor seems to be in a mood as well and has shut himself in the office, leaving me and Tina, the high schooler he hired to help during the holidays, alone on the floor.

We've been slammed all day, not able to leave the registers for anything longer than to assist in finding something for a customer, and so the shop is a mess. The customers have all been horrible, yelling about not being able to find anything and about having to wait so long in line.

Trevor makes an appearance about five minutes before closing time and takes up a spot near the door after doing a lap of the store. I can feel his angry glare like a heat lamp on the side of my face.

As soon as the big clock on the wall over the registers hits 7pm, he flips the sign and locks the door, opening it to let customers out. Once the last one has left, he flips off the outside lights and approaches the registers where Tina and I are running the closing reports.

"Tina, go ahead and clock out. Derek and I will get this."

Tina raises concerned eyes to mine before setting down the bag with the money from her till and hightailing it to the back. Trevor lets her out when she comes back with her purse, staring at me the whole while. It's almost as if he blames me for every bad thing that has happened. Ever.

"What the fuck, Derek?" He waves his arms to indicate the condition of the store.

"I didn't have time to eat today, let alone straighten the shelves. I'm sorry I can't do it all at once."

"Maybe if you'd stop flirting with the customers, you'd have time."

"Wow. Okay." I'm at a loss as to how to respond. "I can't believe you just said that to me." I pick up the money bag for my till and Tina's and head to the office. "You know just how busy it was today, Trevor."

"And I saw you flirting with several customers."

"It's called giving good customer service, Trevor. The nicer I am to the customers, the more likely they are to come back."

"Are you sleeping with them?"

I drop the bags on the table and sit down. "With who?"

"The customers!" Trevor manages to startle me when he slams his hands on the table just inches from my right arm.

"No. I do not date the customers."

"So you are cheating on me." He makes it a sentence, but I hear it as a question.

Biting back a sigh of frustration, I lay the stack of ones I was counting down and stand to face him. "No, Trevor. I am not cheating on you. Know why? Because we're-" I wave my hand back and forth between us. "-not dating."

He straightens up to his full height and crosses his arms over his chest. "Says who?"

"You!" I fling one hand out in his direction. "You're sleeping with anyone you want. And we never said we're exclusive."

His brows lower over his nose. "I'm not wired to be monogamous."

"Well, I am." It's true. Wolves Mate for life, and it hurts to have even a temporary partner not be faithful.

"So what are you saying?"

Sitting back down, I continue to count the tills while getting my thoughts in order. "I'm saying, if you won't be faithful, don't expect me to be."

"In other words, if I take others to my bed, you'll do the same?"

"I mean, don't get pissed when I go on dates. You're not my boyfriend. You're my boss and someone I occasionally fuck. That's all."

I hear him take and release a deep breath. "Is this your way of trying to get me to stop fucking around?"

I turn in my chair to gape up at him. "No, Trevor. This is me asking you to stop expecting something from me that you're not willing to give."

Things between us get easier. For all of a week. And then it all goes to shit a couple of days after Christmas when Laura receives a letter in the mail that has her eyes glowing red. Without a word, she packs a bag, orders me to follow only if I haven't heard from her in a week, climbs behind the wheel of her car, and drives off back to Beacon Hills.

I find I cannot wait a week, so I go to Trevor's a couple of days later to tell him I'm leaving.

"Surely she can handle whatever it is without you. Otherwise she'd have taken you with her," he says once I've explained why.

"Sure she can. But we've been together for the past six years. I can't help but worry that something will happen without me there to watch her back." 

"So what are you saying?"

I run the fingers of one hand through my hair and pace the living room. "I'm leaving and most likely won't be back." With a sigh, I turn to face him. "I just didn't feel right leaving without saying anything. You've been good to me, giving me a job and all."

He nods and stands from where he's sitting on the couch. "When are you planning on leaving?"

"I was on my way to the bus station."

"Stay tonight. Leave in the morning."

"Trevor-" He doesn't let me finish, just grabs fistfuls of my shirt and pulls me into a kiss.

And as always happens when he kisses me, we end up naked. It's the first time I've had sex anywhere other than a bed or couch. My back burns from rubbing against the carpet. And yet it is the best sex I've ever had.

The next morning, I slip from the bed and make my way as quietly as I can to the bathroom. After taking a quick shower, I tiptoe back across the bedroom. Stopping next to the bed, I frown down at the empty spot where Trevor should be lying. And then I realize I can hear him moving around in the kitchen.

"Go back to bed," I say softly, wrapping my arms around his waist and nuzzling the back of his neck. "I can get something to eat on the road."

"Nonsense." He turns in my arms and kisses my forehead. "I want to say good-bye properly."

"As if we didn't do that last night."

Shoving on my shoulders, he gets me to step back. "Sit down. I'll make some eggs and bacon."

I open my mouth to argue, but the look on his face has me closing it and doing as requested.

The kitchen is comfortably silent as he cooks and even while we eat. We've never had much need for words. Once we're done eating, and I have forced him to let me help clean up, he takes my hand and leads me to a door I've always wondered about.

"Most people don't know this about me, but I don't need to work. I only run the bookstore because I like to keep busy." He pulls the door open and flicks on a light, revealing a staircase leading down. "I own this whole building and rent the other units at a reasonable price, because again, don't need the money."

He leads me down the stairs and into a five-car garage. They are all the kind of cars you would expect a rich man to own. But one catches my eye because it is a car I've always wanted.

Picking up a set of keys off a hook at the foot of the stairs, he turns to me and holds them out. "You once mentioned you wanted to own a Camaro when you were younger. Take it. It's yours. They're all registered to my holding company so there won't be any issue with that. When you get settled, if you want, just contact me and I'll transfer the title." He shakes the keys. "Go on. It's completely paid for. I want you to have it, Derek. Think of it as a going away present."

"Trevor-" I have no idea what to say. 'Thank you' seems so trivial and not even close to enough, but Mom did raise me to be polite. "'Thank you' doesn't seem to be enough for all you've done for me."

His eyes, when he looks at me, are wet with unshed tears. "I should thank you as well. I know I didn't treat you right and for that I'm sorry." He sniffles and wipes away a stray tear with the back of his hand. "You taught me some hard truths about myself these past couple of weeks. I will always be in your debt for that. Now, take the fucking keys and get the hell out of here. Go!" He takes one of my hands in his and puts the keys in my palm, closing my fingers around them. "Be safe, Derek. I hope you find someone who makes you, and your inner beast, happy."

"What?" I couldn't possibly have heard him right, could I? I mean, he's not supernatural as far as I know.

"Something else no one knows about me. I can tell when someone's not Human. I may not know exactly what they are, but I always know they're not Human. I'm guessing you're a Were of some kind. Most likely a Werewolf. Am I right?"

I nod. "You're the first person since my high school girlfriend to know that about me. Well, the first that wasn't also some kind of Were or other supernatural creature. How do you know my inner beast isn't happy with you?"

He shrugs. "There were times when it felt like you were wrestling with yourself over being with me. I know just enough about Werewolves to know they have a Soul Mate and their inner wolf won't be happy with anyone other than the one it chooses as their Mate. And I know I'm not yours. I can see it in your eyes every time you look at me."

"Trevor-" Again, I have no words.

He presses his fingers to my lips. "No more talking. You need to go. Now. Before I take you back upstairs and tie you to my bed."

We share one more kiss, and then I'm sliding behind the wheel and driving away from yet another person to steal a piece of my heart.

A few days later, I pass the Town of Beacon Hills sign just moments after feeling Laura's bond with me break. It almost confirms my suspicions that she came back for revenge.

The woods surrounding the remains of our house are full of sheriff's deputies. I overhear one say that someone found the lower half of a naked woman and now they're looking for the other half so they can identify her. 

I can't let that happen. They will not bury her properly and with the rest of our Pack not getting proper burials, it's the least I can do for her. So I conduct my own search.

Every time one of the sniffer dogs comes close, I growl low in my throat and send it off in another direction.

It's nearly dawn when I find her. Falling to my knees next to her, I allow myself to give in to my grief, throwing back my head and howling my grief for all the world to hear. Then I pick her up and carry her back to the house where I bury her in the side yard, laying a wolfsbane barrier as per custom. My hands burn from the contact but I don't have an Emissary to do it for me.

Now that the sun is fully up, I go back to where I found her, looking for clues as to who killed her. Near where I found her body is an inhaler. I pick it up, turning it over in my hand before shrugging and putting it in my pocket. It might be nothing but it's all I have found so far.

Just as I decide there aren't going to be any more clues to be found, I hear two boys talking as they walk, no _stomp_ , through the woods. Humans never think to hide their movements. But one of them isn't exactly Human. No, one has the scent of a newly bitten Beta.

The one that was bitten isn't sure what happened. And the other actually uses the word lycanthropy. I can't tell if he's serious or not. He gives what is obviously a joking howl but the beast's ears perk at the sound. Of course, he's already pacing excitedly at just the smell of one of them.

And that can only mean one thing. I just hope it's not the Human.

I can see them now: one with floppy hair and one with a buzz cut. The one with the buzz cut is joking about his friend being a Wolf and how Friday is a full moon. But Floppy Hair is more worried about something he lost: an inhaler. My hand tightens around the plastic I found a few feet from here.

I stop several yards from where Floppy Hair is searching through some leaves with his friend looking on. He then turns and sees me, reaching down to slap Floppy Hair on the shoulder.

Instantly the scent of arousal floods the air, causing the beast to start yipping in excitement. We've found our Mate at last. And he's so very fucking young. Can't possibly be more than sixteen. Fuck!

I push all that aside and stride closer to them, demanding, "What are you doing here?" Buzz Cut rubs his head and looks away before looking back, almost as if he can't keep his eyes off me. "Huh? This is Private property." I come to a stop a few feet from them, doing my best to keep the beast from forcing me to shift and claim this kid as my Mate.

Buzz Cut says, "Uh, sorry man. We didn't know." His voice cracks on a couple of the words and his heartbeat ticks. He knows this is private property but probably figured since the house burned down and Laura and I left that it wouldn't be an issue if they trespassed.

Floppy Hair says, "Yeah, we were just looking for something, but…" When he falters to a stop, I raise my eyebrows and shake my head much like my mom used to when I was trying to not lie while lying to her face. "Uh, forget it."

I pull the inhaler I found from my pocket and toss it at him. He catches it easily. When he looks down at it, I turn and walk away.

As I walk away, I turn and glance back over my shoulder. Buzz Cut shifts slightly away from his friend just as the wind shifts direction and his scent hits me like a punch to the gut. And then the beast surprises me by sitting on his haunches and saying the only word I've ever heard from him: ours.

_Fuck!_

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Cover] Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28811937) by [Covers by Isabelle (isabellerecs)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/isabellerecs/pseuds/Covers%20by%20Isabelle)




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